VIGIL: What does it do, and will it work?

We miss Linda, too

 

I have commented several times on how complete a waste of time and energy it is for me to tackle anti-cancer news by scrutinizing the scientific literature.  I have been at this study-and-blog thing for three years now, and I have worked pretty hard, for an old guy.  Yes, indeed, I know much more than formerly.  I know what the verb “to lyse” means.  I am okay with T-cells, and I can guess what a T-cell response might be.  I could give you a definition of shRNA, if you were curious. “Protein” and “antigen” are old friends.   But, what to do with the following paragraph?

Vigil, formerly known as FANG, involves engineering a patient's tumor cells to express the immunostimulator recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, which is designed to elicit a T-cell response against the patient's tumor antigens. The drug also includes bi-functional shRNAs against furin, an enzyme responsible for lysing the components of the protein TGF-beta that are involved in cellular proliferation and differentiation.

I took this from a PRESS RELEASE, for Heaven sake.  It is advising the (stock buying public) that Gradalis has a promising new drug against ovarian cancer in trial.  I usually can follow press releases fairly easily, but not this one.  However, I sense that this press release is announcing good news. News of any success in the fight against ovarian cancer is good news, although too many of these “potential breakthroughs” tend to fizzle and die.

And on another note, it is amusing to watch it try to rain here in Borrego.  All signs indicate that they are having a whopping big storm over on the coast: the wind is howling from the west, and dark, soggy clouds come rolling over the intervening mountains.  The rain clouds come on like a conquering army, determined to drench us with the rain we all are hoping for.  Not to be; upwelling, warm, bone-dry air from the Borrego sink stops the rain cloud in their tracks.  You can almost hear them whimper and moan as they dry up, wither, and die.  If we get 0.01 in tonight and tomorrow I will be surprised.  We always like rain here, unless it turns into a flash flood.  Too late for spring flowers now, anyway – the crop is sparse this year.