Finnegan and furry friend
Among the professions I most happily avoided, way up near
the top of the list is pediatric oncology.
It appears that many childhood cancers are unlike those we adults are
likely to get, and. moreover are unusually difficult to cure. Thus it is that, with a broad smile and
little whoop of joy, I can tell you about some significant progress:
The experimenters here, now at Stanford, have used CAR T to
create a plug that stuffs up receptors of a certain kind (read the link – it’s
short) that are displayed on the surface of cancer cells. So far this method has worked only for
leukemia and lymphoma (blood cancers), but now evidence (e.g., myriads of dead
mice) suggests that it may work on solid tumors, including many found in
children. This particular therapy may
also help with ovarian cancer and multiple myeloma.
As an aside: when cancer finally is eliminated and a grateful
humanity erects a monument to that wonderful accomplishment – it better damned
well contain a marble replica of a mouse!
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