Interesting comments minter re if a family member had ovarian...

Interesting comments minter re if a family member had ovarian cancer.

I would agree with you and would follow the same course as long as all conventional treatment had been implemented and especially if they had been unsuccessful and there was progressive metastatic disease.

However it is important to distinguish between this very personal pathway and the commercial rollout of the treatment to the population as a whole. The latter must always follow the most stringent controls because the widespread dissemination of a treatment which has unforeseen serious side effects is potentially catastrophic.

Using an experimental treatment in the context of a clinical trial involves very strict following of informed consent processes and acceptance of potential risks by the study subjects.

In the case of cVac, the early safety data is very reassuring.

There are 3 possible outcomes:

1 - Effective treatment and acceptable side effects - the dream outcome for patients, Prima and investors. Phase III results required to establish this. Possibly up to two years away and if significantly invested now you can probably retire! VERY comfortably :)

2 - Ineffective treatment and acceptable side effects. A safe outcome for patients who will, however, have their hope extinguished. A disaster for Prima and investors.

3 - Ineffective treatment and serious and unacceptable side effects (unseen as yet, so probably not common).

In the event of a 1 or 2 outcome the Dubai rollout is a safe pathway for patients. The results of Phase III will probably be available before any indication will come out of Dubai that the treatment is ineffective. And it's probably a safe pathway for the company.

However if the outcome is 3, the Dubai rollout will be a disaster for cVac, AND will irreparably damage Prima's reputation (possibly destroy the company) AND probably severely affect the other product lines from the company.

IMHO the probability of a 3 outcome is very small, but not zero.

The other risk of Dubai is that as it is a less controlled situation than a clinical trial, patients may experience serious problems on treatment which may not in fact be due to cVac. Patients have a habit of ascribing bad things to something they have been given. Believe me. And it is really hard to break that link. Witness the vaccination/autism debate! (please don't start THAT one on this thread!)

That is the gamble of Dubai and I'm guessing that management have decided it's a risk worth taking. I hope they are right.

But back to minter's point - I'd be enrolling my family member in a cVac trial if at all possible.