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Jul 30, 2010 10:03PM
MJLToday
wrote:
I hate to be a wet blanket on all this, but I've been in cancer-land a long, long time. In 1998, when I was first diagnosed, TIME ran a front page story about how angiogenesis inhibitors (like Avastin) "cured" cancer in mice. Woo Hoo! A human cure around the corner.
12 years later, and Avastin has been fast-tracked approved, but is being consider for disapproval because of marginal effectivness. Very disappointing, and 40,000 people still die of breast cancer each year.
There are many BC vaccines in trial now. This link shows 42 trials that are recruiting patients:
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=vaccine+breast+cancer&recr=Open
I hope this new one gets to trial stage soon. We really do need trials to find out if these treatments are effective or not. Besides the potentially harmful side effects of these treatments, which are unknown until Phase 1 (first in humans, limited in number) trials, putting many people on unproven treatments means that their cancers could progress in the absence of other, better proven treatments.
That's what happened to me in the Everolimus/RAD001 study--I progressed during those 3 months. I don't regret participating in the study -- I'm just glad they kept very close tabs on me while I was on the study, so I didn't progress too far before switching to a different treatment.
So, please check with your oncologists, breastcancertrials.org, clinicaltrials.gov, and many other sites to enroll in thee trials that are already approved and ready to go.
MJ '98 Stage 2 ER+/PR-/Her-, AC+Tam: Sep 08 bone/liver mets. Arimidex,Faslodex,Zometa thru 12/09, Aromasin+Everolimus thru 03/10, Abraxane thru 3/11,Xeloda 8/11,Armed Activated T cell trial 9/11, Taxotere/Gemzar now