I'm wondering if anyone only gets the SOC if it isn't successful. We all speak of SOC treatment, but in the case of GBM we know that 95% are dead in 5 years or less. When it's clear that a patient won't be among the lucky 5%, is nothing beyond the SOC done to give them more time, or perhaps even let them join the lucky 5%.
While I believe that DCVax-L used earlier is best, but I don't know that in some cases, even when used later it's so effective that patients haven't become long term survivors. This may be especially true if it's combined with Keytruda and/or Poly-ICLC.
If this is true for GBM patients, it may be true for other patients who initiate treatment with the SOC for that cancer, but when determined that it's not achieving what's hoped for, DCVax-L perhaps with other therapeutics could be used and be of great benefit perhaps ultimately curing the patient.
Certainly, it might be better if included for every patient from the beginning, that's doubtful especially for cancers where current treatment is largely successful. For the deadliest of cancers, it ought to become a part of the SOC once it's determined to be of benefit.
I view pancreatic as one of the deadliest and while there is very little data, from what I gather patients who've tried it had benefits. To me, that's enough to make it part of the SOC. I would hope that for patients whose tumors were not suitable to the Whipple enough of the lysate could somehow be obtained to make the vaccine. I don't know if something can remotely suck sufficient tumor through it to do the job, something like a needle biopsy but larger and designed to break down the tumor and suck it out in sufficient quantity to make the vaccine. I don't know if such a device exists, but if not, I've got to believe it's possible. If not, DCVax-Direct may be the answer, but not until it's proven to be.
If a device can get adequate lysate to make the vaccine from otherwise inoperable tumors, the question may be, what's more effective, DCVax-L requiring extraction of some tumor lysate, or DCVax-Direct which is simply injected into the tumor.
A friend has stage 4 breast cancer, I know it's inoperable, but again, I would believe that there is a way to get sufficient tumor to make the vaccine. I would hope it could be done without surgery per se, but with some device like I described. Some might consider that minor surgery, I don't know.
Gary
Bullish
AI
