Bad news for cancer, good news for you this week. Finally after a century of slash/burn/poison (surgery, radiation and chemo) which many of you have endured, there are more intelligent and effective ways being developed to attack cancer.
After mapping the human genome in 2000 (yes that is already 22 years ago!) we have learned to investigate our personal predisposition to acquire diseases. Now we are learning how to tap into aspects of our own immune fighters to bring forth self-made cancer fighting capabilities inherent in our cells.
Hard to believe that in 1899 the US patent office closed because “everything that can be invented has been invented”. Your government hard at work… even then. Thank goodness for those renegades who worship skepticism. If you or a loved one is battling this disease – or any other, it is gratifying to hear that new treatments are still being developed – sorry patent office- gotta get out of the tub and go to work! We are living longer with cancer because of these amazing new discoveries. Unfortunately, if you have developed metastatic cancer you know how sneaky these cells are. If they were not life threatening you could almost admire their tenacity and cleverness.
OK, Doc don’t be so snarky, we’re dealing with cancer here! You are right. The real need now is how to tap into the new swift changes developing in oncology. On Sunday New England Journal of Medicine published a study from Memorial Sloan Kettering of 100% response rate (unheard of) in the 18 patients (small number) on a trial for rectal cancer carrying a specific gene mutation (pathology tests for this on biopsy and it occurs in 4%… not a big number admittedly), where the tumors went into complete remission. This drug (dostarlimab) is an immune checkpoint inhibitor like pembrolizumab (you’ve seen ads for Keytruda) introduced by Merck in 2017 (that’s already 5 years ago). At first the brilliant researcher was turned down for even a small trial, ultimately a small biotech firm sponsored the study.
These incremental steps will change the way cancers are treated across the board and in our lifetime. They are developing smarter drugs that impact how cancer hides from therapy and uncloaking the cells instead of letting the body accept or even welcome this insidious disease.
Another attack is being developed using viruses- both natural and genetically engineered as cancer immuntherapies. Oncolytic viruses (lyse tumor cells) work in two ways- they infect the cancer and (added benefit) they stimulate the body’s antiviral immune response. How very exciting to use our own capabilities to eliminate cancer. If we can recognize and destroy cancer through our immune system, we have innate tools to aid if not completely replace the other therapies.
So, how do we access this genius? Your oncologist is well aware of clinical trials- it is how these discoveries occur and are tested. When diagnosed or if you have a recurrence, always ask about any new trials and sign up. What many do not realize is that the drugs are then given for free and that you can always quit- IT’S NOT PRISON and you might just be a success story. If you are doing poorly, your doctor will remove you from the trial and send you for standard therapy anyway. Many drugs, only offered to the worst cases after standard therapy, are now moving to the head of the class and given at the outset. I like to call them the “ibs” and the “abs”. If you see these on the end of a generic drug word they are monoclonal antibodies and becoming standard of care for many diseases- some work inside the cell, others outside.
Once a drug maker has success they are very eager to push out the trials not just to academic institutions but the community. You will find many listed on the NCI trials website*, but several are company drug protocols not found there. So be bold, keep exploring, have hope, join forces with those who will help your body to pull the hood off the cancer cells and go for the jugular. You have nothing to lose.
*www.cancer.gov