That is right Plough. Only three responses. That was just a...

That is right Plough. Only three responses. That was just a safety trial on very advanced patients, and strong responses are not usually seen at that stage. Different drugs affect different cancers. I dont know why they saw the strongest response in RCC. I think there were only two RCC patients in the trial. I know they use Interferon Alpha on RCC, which is a kind of imumotherapy, so I guess RCC responds well to immunotherapy. Some immunotherapies have been shown recently to benefit greatly from the cytotoxic Taxotere administered after the immunotherapy. See Dr Petrylak's presentation under GU cancers here: http://chemotherapyfoundation.org/professional_education/meetingarchives_tcf2006_main.html
There are immune cells called regulatory T cells(Tregs)that are there to prevent the T Cells attacking healthy cells as in autoimmune disease. A theory I have heard is that once the immune system is primed to fight the cancer, the cytotoxic Taxotere removes the Tregs, clearing the way for an immune reaction to have more effect. Perhaps the reason Coramsine worked so well on RCC is a version of the above. Coramsine is not agressive against the immune system, but has been shown in the past to start an immune reaction against a tumour after killing tumour cells by necrosis. Further illustrated in a preclinical mouse model by Coramsine's greatly increased effect when combined with the immune stimulating TLR9 agonist Imoxine.
Just maybe, Coramsine is part of the next advance. That is just my opinion and may all be wrong. It gets a lot more complicated trying to work out the science. Check this presentation by Pamela Ohashi,if you have an hour to spare. She concludes apaptosis will not prime he immune system to attack the cancer. Coramsine destroys cancer cells by necrosis, not apoptosis. She also says she couldnt find any Tregs. http://videocast.nih.gov/PastEvents.asp?c=28