Replies to post #3325 on Ayala Pharmaceuticals Inc (ADXS)

[terry hallinan]

"Anal Cancer study, all 10 patients so far are complete responders"

Superb.

"A Phase I/II Evaluation of ADXS11-001, Mitomycin, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and IMRT for Anal Cancer (276)"

http://www.montefiore.org/body.cfm?id=2342&action=detail&ref=450

Not quite so swell.

"Standard treatment with mitomycin, 5-FU and radiation for anal cancer has substantial toxicity. In RTOG 9811, 74% of patients had grade 3/4 nonhematologic toxicity and 61% of patients had grade 3 or grade 4 hematologic toxicity from this regimen. Therefore, the toxicities of standard chemoradiation with mitomycin, 5-FU and radiation are well above the conventionally accepted parameters in a phase I study even prior to adding ADXS11-001. However, it is critical that the addition of ADXS-11-001 does not compromise the delivery of potentially curative standard chemoradiation for anal cancer."

https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01671488

What appears huge news on its face does not look quite so great on closer inspection for the short term but could be huge in the longer term.

Something over 90% of all cancers in the US are skin cancer according to one old statistic I read. Most of those are easily treated and appear similar on their face to anal cancers.

I don't pretend to know if squamous cell skin cancers are associated at all with the HPV virus but... well you see where I am going on a wild jump far beyond my pay grade.

Either way there is both dampening news and perhaps huge news but all distant in time.

Damn cancer is a tricky devil.

Best, Terry