Nacario's Digital Scrapbook

• The FDA are in the process of approving a new vaccine called Provenge, which can be used to give men with prostate cancer a greater chance of survival. It acts like chemotherapy, just without the side effects.
• The vaccine is not a cure, a way to prevent prostate cancer, and doesn't slow the growth of the cancer. But if used on prostate cancer in it's early stages, it can be highly effective. Provenge is therapeutic and the way it works is it uses the patient's own white blood cells. It mixes with a drug and is inserted back into the patient. The cells once returned to the body trigger a immune response that kills the cancer cells and leaves the treated cells alone.
• The drug is used primarily for men with advanced prostate cancer who failed with hormonal treatments. The use of Provenge has increased the life span of a patient from 2-3 months to 2-3 years. The price for this drug is not cheap, a whopping $75,000 bill has to be paid for treatment, which can have different results with each patient.
• The side effects are minimal, showing only mild flu symptoms. However Provenge itself is flawed in it's own way. The process is on a daily basis, where the patient must donate his own white blood cells every day. It is cumbersome because of this and costs a lot. The rival of Provenge is Abiraterone, which stops the production of testosterone.
• The relation of this article to our class is within the context of cancer and the immune system. This new drug Provenge is a new treatment option for men with Prostate cancer and it utilizes the patient's own immune system to fight cancer cells, where they couldn't previously. This is different from chemotherapy and hormonal therapy, and it has less severe side effects.

I am very concerned of prostate cancer because it is the second most common cancer amongst men. I fear for my family because cancer has affected us very much. I am glad to see this as an alternative to chemotherapy because if I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, I wouldn't want to be spending my time in more pain than necessary. Even if though this is a new drug, I think that it is a step into a new type of treatment, allowing the immune system to act properly and kill cancer cells. My only complaint with this treatment is the fact that a patient has to donate white blood cells daily. It would be a real pain in the neck to drive to a hospital day after day when you may have plans set or you live a fair distance away from a hospital. I think think that over time, this treatment will evolve and become more effective and cheaper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MvPVq9gK2M

• Mortality rate of advanced breast cancer has decreased 50% thanks too newer forms of chemotherapy.
  
• An anthracycline drug has led to a 22% reduction in risks of death versus older technology that used nonanthracycline drugs. These drugs are similar to antibiotics and attack the genetic material of a cancer cell.
  
• Another drug called taxanes have lowered chances of death by 33% and new combos of taxanes have reduced death risks by 51%. Taxanes interfere with the mitosis of cancer.
  
• The analysis was comprised of 148 comparisons, 122 trials with 26,031 patients using 22 different types of therapy.
• Incorporating these new treatments together can result with greater chances of survival with people with advanced breast cancer.

• This article relates to our Cancer section and is relevant because of the new treatments that are available and how people can combat cancer.

My take on this article is very positive. if my grandmother was alive today and had these options to maintain her cancer, maybe she would still be around. Hearing these news is spectacular because treatments like taxanes can vastly increase a person's chance of survival. My concern on this is that it is a new treatment and most likely has a heavy bill to pay off. That and I am concerned if an advanced cancer can adapt to these newer treatments, making them immune, and the whole drug useless. I agree that instead of single treatments on one therapy is insufficient and multiple treatments must be used to have an effective regimen against cancer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_qKG_R9FHQ&feature=player_embedded

• Studies 1,200 women with the precancer known as ductal carcinoma in situ(D.C.I.C.S) to determine which need more or less aggressive treatments.
  
• There are 3 bio markers that predict risks of cancer. If all 3 are present then the patient has a 20% risk of having cancer over a 8 year span. If none are present, only a 4% chance of catching cancer. These 3 markers are called p16, COX-2 and Ki67.
• Despite making a step into having a personalized treatment for cancer, several experts say that the results would not affect practices. However, it can help people determine which treatment course to undertake and make sure they do not over or under treat their cancer.
  

• This particular article relates to our Cancer lesson in class, correlating with the various forms of cancer. With every patient, there maybe a different cancer. Being able to determine the severity of the potential cancer can help to insure proper treatment is taken, not to much or to little.

I find that a discovery like this is very important for treatments in cancer. Although in the article it may go against my ideas slightly, I say that each cancer is unique in it's own way and may or may not react the same to certain treatments. Having a personalized treatment plan can give doctors more information that can help them determine what treatment is the best for their patient.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcFje6ZUSXs&feature=player_embedded