I'm not saying it's bad news at all. It just doesn't have...

I'm not saying it's bad news at all.

It just doesn't have clinical significance not because the drug does not work because:

n=4
Mean reduction of 11%. What was the median reduction? Probably more important when dealing with 4 patients.
Most lymphomas show a dramatic initial treatment response. If you give cortisone the tumour mass melts away. This is often used when a nodal mass compresses a critical structure. This is the reason that a 30% reduction is only classified as a partial response. However, obviously it becomes increasingly resistant and the response diminishes.

I cannot find any published protocol for the trial so it's hard to know what to expect of the full results. Certainly if 75% patient response and a sustained reduction in tumour mass is achieved this will be great news. Yes dose escalation may improve response or it may not. Certainly the low toxicity profile is very encouraging.

The results from the human trial I think were far more significant than these results. However, it's just preliminary and they could yet improve, stay they same or worsen. Either way I love the recent SP action.