I have to remind myself every once in a while why I have stuck by this company thru thick and thin. This may help everyone clear their heads and reassure them that what we have invested in is truly a remarkable discovery:
Cancer Markers
Cancer markers allow one to distinguish cancer cells from non-cancerous cells. An ideal cancer marker is a molecule present in all cancer cells but not in normal or benign tumor cells. This ideal has yet to be fulfilled: None of the best cancer markers - AFP, CEA, PSA and Ca125- are very sensitive (they are not always expressed in cancer cells), they are restricted to certain organs (liver/testis, colon/rectum, prostate and ovary respectively). Moreover, in many cases they are not cancer specific (benign tumors might also express them). The following excerpts (edited for clarity) illustrate the point:
CEA: From Oncolink, University of Pennsylvania, Cancer Center, Feb 2001.
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a protein normally found in very small levels in the blood of healthy people, but may become elevated in some people who have cancer or benign conditions. ...cigarette smokers, and patients with disorders such as ulcerative colitis, liver disease, and lung infection also may have elevated CEA levels."
PSA: From the library of the North Memorial Health Care in Minnesota, (March 2001.)
"Only one-third of all men with a circulating PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) greater than a certain value (4.0 ng/ml) will actually be found to have cancer on subsequent biopsy. Most will have simple hypertrophy, prostatitis, or other benign conditions. By increasing the cut-off (to 10 ng/ml), the fraction of men with cancer grows to two-thirds, but in over half of those patients, the tumor will have already spread beyond the prostate gland, rendering it surgically incurable. In order to become a clinically effective tool for the detection of early, potentially curable prostate cancer, the specificity of PSA needs to be improved."
CA125: From Oncolink, University of Pennsylvania, Cancer Center, Feb 2001.
"Unfortunately, people without cancer demonstrate a large variation in levels of CA 125 making the determination of what is normal difficult. In general women under 50 years of age have higher levels than women over 50 or men. The finding of elevated CA 125 was noted to be elevated in a number of benign conditions including infections, and endometriosis. Because of this, CA 125 levels are not used as a screening test to find unknown cancer but rather to follow the progress of documented cancer."
Our Technology: RECAF™
The main feature characterizing Recaf is that it is found on many different types of cancer but not on normal or benign tumor cells (e.g. breast fibro-adenomas). Our data shows that cancers of the breast, lung, stomach, prostate express this molecule. In other words, RECAF is present in more than one tissue type. The marker is not only present on the surface and inside cancer cells, but is also found in the blood of cancer patients. As a widespread cancer marker, RECAF could REPLACE those markers which are only available for one type of cancer or which are not sensitive or specific for a malignancy. More importantly, the prevalence of RECAF means that it can be applied to cancers for which there are no other effective cancer markers, such as breast and lung which combined represent 30% of all cancers.
Our day will come, but how fast and how big of a company is the responsibility of management. That is my biggest concern. We are all in agreement that management has disappointed us. They must stop using shareholder money on what continues to be a futile waste. We need new management NOW. We are building the foundation for this company at this very moment and we need the very best experienced leadership. I will say it every day if I have to.
