MORE ON TARGETED THERAPY

Linda and her Mom, 1973

 

Linda’s sister Carolyn has sent me this link to an important and interesting news article:

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/new-kind-cancer-study-shows-tailored-treatment-saves-some-n412436.

The article concerns targeted therapy, which we have considered many times before, e.g.:  http://ljb-quiltcutie.blogspot.com/2014/01/linda-and-carolyn-in-borrego-springs.html

As you certainly know, if you actually READ my blogs, targeted therapy consists of first determining the mutation responsible for the tumor, then somehow undoing its malign effects.  This contrasts with “standard” therapy, which usually consists (after surgery and possibly radiation) of dosing the patient with a cocktail of chemo drugs chosen based on the site of the tumor – ovary, breast, prostate, blood, etc.  Targeted therapy requires gene sequencing, of course, and so is expensive to use – although the cost of sequencing is said to be dropping rapidly.  Targeted therapy depends heavily on research contained in The Cancer Genome Atlas:  http://ljb-quiltcutie.blogspot.com/2012/09/cancer-genome-atlas-progress.html. 

So, as I understand it, the take-away from this current article is something like this: 

1)      There are many types of mutation that are capable of causing cancer, either alone or in combination with other mutations.

2)      These mutations are not necessarily confined to a single organ, although they may be more common in some than in others.

3)      When such a mutation is discovered, and a therapy devised, it makes sense to try it wherever that particular mutation exists.  For instance, a therapy developed for melanoma has been found to be very effective against some kinds of lung cancer.

4)      Unfortunately, many tumors result from multiple mutations.  Consequently, just because a patient has a tumor that displays mutation XYZ it does not follow that a beneficial result from XYZ therapy will certainly occur – other genetic mistakes may still be able to do the job.

One example discussesd in this article concerns a woman with brain cancer, glioblastoma specifically, who has been helped significantly by a drug developed to combat melanoma. As you all probably know, Jimmy Carter has announced that he, too, has cancer in his brain – but his seems to be melanoma proper.  (I didn’t know you could get melanoma internally, but evidently you can.  One more thing to worry about.)  Jimmy is 90 but, if targeted therapies repulses his cancer I’d be glad to see him back in the White House – with a good V.P., of course.

*Carolyn Joyce deserves to be a co-author of this blog.  Not only does she send me links to ideas I should explore, but she also writes intelligent Comments and thereby gives me assurance that at least ONE person is actually reading this stuff.  Thanks, Carolyn.