Just posted my own reply to the good Dr.:
There is more to the equation than efficacy, Dr. and you neglect to mention side effects and cost. Unfortunately the therapies you’re talking about as being more effective are also much more costly. Treatment costs will be well north of $100K for many of the ones you mentioned. Can society bear this cost? I highly doubt it. This seems to me to be an attempt to bankrupt individuals just before they are to die. And let’s not forget also that we’re not just talk about the American health care system, but the worlds. India, where cervical cancer is practically endemic, would NEVER be able to afford these treatments. (A select few may engage in reverse medical tourism and come to the US) Advaxis vaccines cost less than $10 a dose – you read that right – about the cost of 2 cups of coffee. This technology, which has NEVER failed a clinical trial, can be brought all over the world and offered to all people and the cost can be adjusted to reach the most people possible.
We can also have a discussion on cytokine release syndrome, which requires some of the treatments you mention to be given in an ICU setting. Advaxis vaccines rarely cause more than a grade II reaction and are given in an outpatient setting.
And lets not also forget that because this is a different mechanism of action, there are clinical trials now underway that use combination treatments. Kinda of like stepping on the gas and releasing the breaks to get the best response.
Also, you don’t mention how this tech might work in the infectious disease realm, where the patients do have an intact immune system.
So let’s wait and see before you rush to judgment on how bad this approach is.
