My ‘2 cents’ on Dave’s brilliant summary ...
Okay, as promised Davy, I have had now had a chance to go through the article you have linked and so ably summarised.
Again, many thanks for the time and effort. You are a champ.
As you correctly state ...
Her-vaxx could be a far better solution than Herceptin:minimal to nil toxicity; long term immune memory, a simple injection (not a major drug infusion process); much cheaper to produce and administer; far lesstrouble and time for the patient too.
You also state ...
In the paper, the Vienna team disclose that they have also developed a variant of Her-vaxx - a new and improved version - which combines the original HER2 targets (which mimic the effect of Herceptin) with additional HER2 targets which mimic the effect of another drug - Perjeta (Pertuzumab).
This, to me, is very encouraging.
But the part of the paper that grabbed my attention most ...
The Vienna team found that Her-vaxx (just like Herceptin)may result in some cancers turning themselves from "HER2 positive" to"HER2 negative."
So, my key takeaway is around the final 4 words in the article’s title ...
“to Prevent Immune Evasion”
What’s this?
Scientists regularly refer to cancer as not just difficult, but ‘tricky’. What does this mean?
As I see it, cancer cells, when under attack, are naturally ‘fighting for their lives’. So, what do they do?
Well, these ‘clever little blighters’ have developed a number of ways to ‘by-pass’ or even suppress treatments that are attacking them. This process is called immune evasion.
These clever little cancer cells are racing to inactivate immune cells, that are being stimulated by immuno-treatments, before the treatment can detect and eliminate the cancer cell. This is a big challenge, and the process has been regularly witnessed, in multiple immune-treatments, including Herceptin, and now in the ‘original’ and low dose Her-Vaxx.
I hope this makes sense.
It is the issue of “immune evasion” that might be the greatest challenge, certainly for the long-term survival of cancer sufferers, because this allows the cancer to return.
But what if ...
... there was an immuno-treatment that could move much faster than the current standard of care.
Not taking weeks. Not taking days.
Taking just hours to infect the cells, taking the away cancer cell’s ability to even start the process of immune evasion?
WAIT !!!
What about a virus?
One that was dosed well above the ‘mouse safe level’, that attacked only cancer cells?
That could be the answer! What do you think?
As always, opinion only.
(20min delay)