Cancer treatment shortcomings - i came across this blog and wanted to post it here as it relates to one investment i have in ONCY - they are doing viral therapy.
Are there any opinions regarding this paper, of pharma stalling cheaper treatments for cancer due to profit concerns etc
Benjamin V Holston Cancer Patient Advocate and Medical Research Educator. I advocate for the "Biological Cancer Treatments" that work with your Immune System to heal your cancer.
At the National Cancer Institute....surgery is given credit for 60% of those cured from cancer. Radiation therapy is credited for 25% and chemotherapy 15%. (30)
"Rather than surrendering to despair and impersonal medical treatments, growing numbers of cancer patients are empowering themselves with information and control over their therapies...Studies show that cancer patients, who arm themselves with information, typically fare better and experience fewer side effects, than those who simply follow doctors' orders, no questions asked. Being informed gives them some control over their disease--and the feeling of empowerment plays a role in the healing process."(29) There is a lot of fear involved with a "cancer" diagnosis and this can be addressed, with clear information and choices, along with your doctors guidance.
A cancer patient advocate provides information and practical suggestions to help you take responsibility for your own medical decisions, and partners with your doctor to attain the best outcomes possible for your medical situation.
My personal experience with cancer began, when I was diagnosed at 6 years old with primary bone cancer "Ewing's sarcoma" and I became a very sick little boy. In a few weeks, I became ill with the Mumps and Measles and suddenly my cancer was gone. These viruses destroyed my cancer and my bones still have the calcium deposits from the tumors and my cancer has never returned. I have lost many of my family members to cancer, since then, so I decided to focus my education on cancer.
Cancer is basically an Immune system problem. Normally, the Immune system removes cancer from the body as it forms. "The immune system's prime function is to protect the body against infection and the development of cancer"(23). "An intact and functioning immune system is required to prevent chronic diseases such as cancer, and these diseases cannot be reversed, unless the compromised immune system is restored. When an impaired immune system exists it “misses” atypical cells that arise and that would normally be eliminated. The atypical cell is then “allowed” to survive and progress to become a cancer"(24). "No severe or chronic disease can thrive in the face of a fully functioning Immune System"(25) "Cancer patients often have immune system problems".(26) "Lack of immune rejection is the seventh fundamental hallmark of cancer. Immune-based therapy arguably remains the best option to cure many types of cancer. There is simply nothing as potent or targeted as antigen-specific immunity."(27)
There are millions of cancer patients alive right now who face possible or probable death in the next 12 months. If you add up family members and friends, there are tens of millions of Americans, who should be outraged by an outdated regulatory system that blocks access to potentially life-saving therapies.(22)
"Cancer research is fundamentally flawed in its orientation."(1) "Tumor regression by itself is actually a lousy predictor for the progression of disease. "The sad truth is that regression is not likely to improve a person's chances of survival."(2) "We keep focusing on doing the same thing better, rather than trying something new. It is, as if, we are wearing blinders that let us see only one path and not the alternatives."(3) “Despite widespread use of chemotherapies, breast cancer mortality has not changed in the last 70 years.”(21)
"What really matters is stopping metastases (secondary growths), which kills the great majority of cancer patients. "So you'd think that cancer researchers would have been bearing down on this insidious phenomenon for years."(2) In reality quite the opposite is true. Fortune magazine's examination of NCI grants, going back to 1972, revealed that less than 0.5 percent of study proposals focused primarily on metastases. Half of one percent! Of nearly 8,900 grant proposals awarded last year, 92 percent didn't even mention the word metastasis. According to I.J. (Josh) Fidler of M.D. Anderson, the study of metastases is avoided by cancer researchers because it is a tough and so far unfruitful field, and not likely to yield quick and easy results. Instead, researchers focus on techniques and avenues that they know will produce measurable results in the laboratory."(1)
To find the solutions we need to look at our medical communities ability to communicate in an open minded scientific approach, that is unbiased by big business and political pressures, which protect the profits of these health care businesses. We need to understand what is behind the scenes driving the present approaches to cancer treatments and we need to see beyond our traditional narrow minded medical philosophy, which limits our capability to find or recognize new treatments and cures.
"The part that amazes me most is that almost all of the medicine and techniques used in Germany could be available at home (USA) in a very short order, if only our medical climate were different. It appears to me that our doctors are handicapped by rules and restrictions, which cause them at times to use some therapies, and overdoses, that are not in the patients' best interest." " When I spoke with Dr. Scheller and Dr. Jacob ( Leonardis Clinic in Germany), they said because they are independent of the German insurance system, they may use any therapy in the world, that has proper scientific back-up." " The original Founder and Director [recently deceased] Dr. Scheller and his clinic have the reputation of having one of the highest success rates in Germany with stage-3 & 4 cancer patients -- up to 75 percent are put back into remmission again. In the U.S., I'm told we're lucky if we have a 5 -10 percent rate on late-stage cancer."(18)
There are two major "biological therapy programs" in our medical schools, that work on cancer far better than the standard (chemo, radiation and surgery), which have been a dismal failure for over 50 years.
The first includes the "Passive Immunotherapy Monoclonal Antibody programs", which can be prescribed for specific cancers & the "Active Immunotherapy programs", which attempts to stimulate the immune system to reject and destroy tumors. The second program is "Virotherapy", which uses oncolytic viruses to destroy cancer.
Monoclonal antibodies offer what many medical authorities view as some of the most promising pathways for the treatment of cancer.(4) Monoclonal antibodies are the most widely used form of cancer immunotherapy at this time. Monoclonal antibody therapy is a form of "Passive Immunotherapy", because it uses antibodies made in large numbers outside the body (in the lab), rather than by a person's own immune system.(5) Monoclonal antibodies work on cancer cells in the same way natural antibodies work, by identifying and binding to the target cells. They then alert other cells in the immune system to the presence of the cancer cells.(6) There are nearly a dozen "FDA approved" Monoclonal Antibodies for cancer treatment, which can be prescribed for specific cancers & dozens more in clinical trials.
Many cancer doctors now regard immunotherapy as the "fourth modality", or fourth way, to treat cancer. Many advances against cancer in the future will probably come from this field.(7) White blood cells can be stimulated in various ways to boost the body's immune response to cancer, with little or no effect on healthy tissue.(8) Targeted immunotherapy is designed to make the immune system specifically kill cancer cells.(9) Cancer immunotherapy is the use of the immune system to reject cancer. The main premise is stimulating the patient's immune system to attack the malignant tumor cells that are responsible for the disease. This can be either through immunization of the patient, in which case the patient's own immune system is trained to recognize tumor cells as targets to be destroyed, or through the administration of therapeutic antibodies..., in which case the patient's immune system is recruited to destroy tumor cells by the therapeutic antibodies.(10)
Dendritic Cell therapy is an immune therapy which harnesses the body's own immune system to fight cancer. Dendritic Cell (DC) therapy represents a new and promising immunotherapeutic approach for treatment of advance cancer as well as for secondary prevention of cancer. As Dr. Harmon Eyre, the VP of Research at the AMA commented on results of DC therapy for cancer: "Patients' responses are far out of proportion to anything that any current therapy could do".(11)
"Virotherapy", which uses oncolytic viruses to destroy cancer, is a different approach. An oncolytic virus is a virus (either naturally occurring or genetically engineered) that will grow in a cancer cell and kill it. Once it enters a cancer cell, the virus replicates (reproduces), and when it kills the cancer cell, the virus spreads to other cancer cells. The first recognition of the potential of virotherapy dates back over a hundred years, when it was noted that some patients with terminal cancers went into remission after suffering a viral infection.(17)
The pharmaceutical industry has its financial base rooted in its ability to patent a chemical that it can isolate or synthesize, so it can profit from it. There are little profits in "vaccines", so they show no interest.
"Application of virus therapy to treat human neoplasms (cancer) has over a three decade history. "MTH-68/H", a live attenuated oncolytic viral strain of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV), is one of the viruses used in the treatment of different malignancies. Four cases of advanced high-grade glioma (brain tumor) were treated with MTH-68/H after the conventional modalities (chemo, radiation & surgery)... had failed. This treatment resulted in survival rates of 5-9 years, with each patient still living today. Against all odds, each patient resumed a lifestyle that resembles their previous daily routines and enjoys a good quality of life, Each of these patients has regularly received MTH-68/H as their sole form of onco-therapy for a number of years now, without interruption."(13)
There are several cancer vaccine programs in clinical trials, that have shown very promising results. The surprise is that they have been in place for many years and have been kept in trial status, because of pressure from the pharmaceutical industry on the FDA to keep them that way. There are only marginal profits to be made from these programs, so they have been kept out of conventional medicine. Most of these trials take place in our medical schools and their work is being ignored with a "Thundering Silence", from the FDA. A good example is at the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic is using the "Measles vaccine" to treat gliomas (brain tumors), liver cancer and ovarian cancers, which is given every weekday to babies nationwide in their (MMR) vaccinations, yet it has been kept in trial status for years. Why is something so harmless, as the Measles vaccine, being kept out of conventional medicine for treating cancer, yet, chemotherapy, which destroys a persons health, is being allowed in conventional treatment programs for cancer? The answer is obvious, "huge profits".
"The clinical trial procedure depends on the ability of the pharmaceutical company to finance clinical trials and to recruit patients to participate in them. Many promising trials have been halted due to lack of adequate funding or inability to recruit enough patients to make up an acceptable group of patients to form the study and/or control groups.
Patients can help bring new drugs and treatments to the marketplace by participating in clinical trials that fit their disease state, prior treatment profile, and eligibility status. Patients should ask questions to be certain that they are not sacrificing a proven treatment protocol for one which has little potential to help them, and they should ask questions until they thoroughly understand the details of the trial and how it will affect their disease management strategy. It is also important to verify that all patients in the study receive some form of active therapy and that no group will receive a worthless placebo.
Clinical trials on promising anti-cancer drugs are done in three phases, with Phase I trials being conducted to establish dose-limiting toxicity, Phase II trials proceeding to establish effectiveness in a limited number of patients, and Phase III trials advancing to include widespread study populations and to gather data to make comparisons between the effectiveness of the new treatment versus current protocols.29 Normally, application to the FDA (a New Drug Application, or NDA) for approval takes place after Phase III clinical trials have demonstrated that the new agent, procedure, or protocol is superior to the current standard of treatment in terms of effectiveness and/or tolerability. Only after FDA approval can the new drug or treatment be marketed and made available to the general public, even if such a treatment is approved in another country considered to have advanced medical care by our standards."(28)
"The first report that NDV may be useful as a cancer treatment was published in 1964. NDV was used in a vaccine to prevent Newcastle disease in birds. During that time, it was learned that NDV caused only minor illness in humans. The mild side effects caused by NDV in humans and its ability to replicate up to 10,000 times faster in human cancer cells than in most normal human cells, led researchers to look more closely at NDV as a possible cancer treatment."(15) This commercialy available lentogenic vaccine (NDV-B1) is used nationwide in poultry farms and the farmer is repeatedly exposed to it, as he sprays his chickens for vaccination and, if he has cancer, it could put him into complete remission, with almost no side effects. Direct injection is the most effective method of treatment in the clinical trials, but repeated exposure is successful in those trials.(16)
"Liver cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide, causing nearly a million deaths per year. Despite a variety of differing treatment approaches, its prognosis remains poor with a median survival of about 10 months following diagnosis. For this reason, scientists are anxious to find novel methods that could improve short- and long-term survival from this disease."Engineered Measles Virus Seeks Out and Destroys Liver Cancer Cells:" Scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., reported that the engineered virus seeks out and destroys liver cancer cells, leaving surrounding healthy tissue in tact. In the first part of their study, the scientists studied the impact of their modified Measles virus (MV-Edm) in liver cancer cell lines from human patients. Analysis of liver cancer cells removed from patients shows that these cells contain large amounts of the natural receptor for the measles virus, CD46. Overexpression of this receptor thus makes liver cancer cells ideal targets for the Measles virus. The results confirmed widespread infectivity, toxicity and destruction among these cells, probably through apoptosis or programmed cell death."(14) These non-toxic vaccines have not been allowed outside of clinical trials, because they pose a financial threat to the pharmaceutical industry. A grassroots political effort needs to take place, like what Dr."Patch Adams" is accomplishing around the world, with a compassionate approach to healing.(19)
The Kanzius Machine, as shown on 60 minutes on 4/13/08, is a wonderful invention that will revolutionize oncology. There are no side effects (No surgery; no chemotherapy and no radiation) and it works fast in destroying cancer. It works with low frequency radio frequencies (13.6 MHz), which are much lower & safer than microwaves (300 MHz-300GHz), by heating up carbon and gold nano particles. The idea is to attach the nano particle to a monoclonal antibody, which will attach to a specific protein on a cancer cell membrane, that is unique to the cancer cells, and then the radio frequencies heat the nano particles, until the cancer cells are destroyed. Nothing else is affected, so the cancer is completely targeted. This wonderful invention may not be approved by the FDA for another 15 years, before completing clinical trials.(20) Regretably, John Kanzius passed away (2/18/2009) from complications of "chemotherapy", before he could live to see human clinical trials take place, with his invention.
The issue is not about a few side effects, but about protecting corporate profits, at the expense millions of peoples lives, who are dying of cancer and the brutal side effects of their "chemo" treatments. These vaccine treatments average around $50/ treatment, compared to $15,000/treatment for "chemo". Looking at this brings us to the obvious conclusion, that this must be changed. I ask for your help in bringing about reform to help save peoples lives from the tremendous suffering that has been going on, while the answers lie right in our own medical schools.
"Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship to restrict the art of healing to one class of men and deny equal privileges to others; the Constitution of this republic should make a special privilege for medical freedom as well as religious." Dr. Benjamin Rush (signer of the Declaration of Independence).
I am writing a book on these powerful clinical trials and I am willing to support you and your doctor in getting you into some of these programs. As a Cancer Patient Advocate, I can provide you with potentially life saving knowledge to make well informed decisions about your health, beyond the range of conventional treatments.
"If physicians avail themselves of the opportunity now offered by PDQ, the NCI estimates the national survival rates would rise by at least 10% or more than 40,000 lives per year." (31)
To study and print a copy of these clinical trials, please go to http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/search and type in the name of your cancer and add the word "biological". You should study these and print the ones of interest to you, so your physician can look them over and help you to qualify. He may be surprised at what you may find and the trial may be free of cost for you.
If you desire to donate to the work that I am doing, please scroll to the bottom of this page. Your financial support keeps the information on this website updated & will help in the publication of this book, to empower cancer patients to find their best options. Please feel free to write, if you have any questions.
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