Replies to post #6078 on NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[longusa]

RR, from reading the NIH and Linda Liau research docs, DCVax (and other immunotherapies) is more effective if the cancer cells are in the process of dying as the antigens are more readily available for uptake. That is what I gleaned from those docs anyway. I used to think that an immunotherapy would have better effect if it could be the SoC alone, but not the case. So I don't think it makes sense to replace SoC - there needs to be some prior treatment to start the cancer cell death.

My take on the multiple injections is that cancers are able to mask themselves from the immune system. That is what the PD1 / PD-L1 inhibitors are aimed at as the PD1 pathway is a normal mechanism for the immune system not to attack healthy tissue that gets also used by cancers (so I expect these PD1 inhibitors will probably have some nasty side effects). So the multiple injections (I think) are needed to keep the immune response against the cancer going over time.

[flipper44]

I'll try to respond to this in the next 8 hours or so. I have other obligations at this time, but the short answer is, I personally do not believe the SOC drug interferes too much with critical parts of the immune system early on. I believe techniques like hyperthermia will gradually replace chemotherapy, because it also weakens and kills cancer cells allowing the dendritic cells and the immune forces it potentiates to better recognize and eliminate the tumors. It is far more complicated than what I am explaining in my current distracting environment. Very short answer....I expect the results to be close to or even better than DCvax-L's earlier trials.

Moreover, waiting in the wings is a remarkable understudy.....Direct will not be an understudy for long Sir Richmond.

[flipper44]

RRRichmond, more to your point.

Below is a link to an article that answers your questions affirmatively -- namely, yes chemoradiotherapy GBM patients are immunosuppressed, and yes, Multiple DCVaccination over time helps restore the immune systems in many of these patients.

I would appreciate a more in depth discussion of the impact of existing SOC, over time, and how it affects the charged DCVax-L from some contributor more knowlegible of the biologic interaction of the two. Do you think that this might explain the need for multiple injections? RRRichmond

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3766324/#__ffn_sectitle