Is the US government intentionally supressing a cancer cure?

by Nathan Natas 52 Replies latest jw friends

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  Mary

  Has Kanzius filed an Investigational New Drug application with the FDA?

  He died two years ago, so no he hasn't, but it looks like the clinic that bears his name in Houston plans on doing that down the road.

  Mary, with all do respect, if you want to see the return on investment, look in the mirror.

  Yes but Jeff, I was given the same treatment that I would have got 40 years ago: surgery and radiation. Don't get me wrong Jeff---I'm glad to be alive, but there are alot who are not as lucky as I was. I had a Witness friend who died about 4 years ago from colon cancer. Actually, she died after one treatment of the chemo. I knew another woman who died after a long and horrific struggle with liver cancer last year. She told me at one point that she just would prefer to die as the chemo treatments were so horrific. It's cases like that that make you go "why the hell are they still using something as bad as chemotherapy? Why haven't they got something better? Why after so many decades are we still getting chemotherapy and radiation as standard treatment?"

  I don't necessarily think that the pharmaceutical industry wants people to die, but they sure as hell don't want a cheap, easy cure for cancer anymore than the oil companies want a cheap material to make a car run. As these industries are insanely rich and powerful, it seems that any changes that are cheaper and better are slower than molasses in January in materializing.

  Since this subject interests you, shoot me a PM for info on what is going on these days.

  Thanks!
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  botchtowersociety

  He died two years ago, so no he hasn't, but it looks like the clinic that bears his name in Houston plans on doing that down the road.

  MD Anderson is one of the finest cancer research institutions in the world. They are cooking up some pretty interesting things in Texas, and it ain't chili.

  She told me at one point that she just would prefer to die as the chemo treatments were so horrific.

  There is a compound in development that, when used along with chemo compounds, blocks their worst effects. It also seems to be very beneficial in colon and other cancers. It is a plant sugar, it is not toxic, and is cheap to manufacture.

  http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=davanat

  You can get it in Colombia right now, but not in the USA.

  Why after so many decades are we still getting chemotherapy and radiation as standard treatment?"

  Because they work. I got radiation therapy and surgery too. A lot of the chemo drugs out there now aren't the same ones that we were using decades ago either.

  I don't necessarily think that the pharmaceutical industry wants people to die, but they sure as hell don't want a cheap, easy cure for cancer anymore than the oil companies want a cheap material to make a car run.

  You speak of the pharma industry as one huge single thing. It is not. There are lots of people working there that want to heal the world, and are pouring everything they have of themselves to do it.

  Cancer is a very tough nut to crack. We are getting there in stages.
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  JeffT

  I was given the same treatment that I would have got 40 years ago: surgery and radiation.

  No you didn't. It may look the same externally, but it isn't. The technology has changed tremendously, mostly in the area of tissue typing and matching. Graft vs Host disease is not the problem it used to be.

  Saying the treatment is the same is like saying a Ford Fusion Hybrid is just an updated Model T.
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  botchtowersociety

  The technology has changed tremendously, mostly in the area of tissue typing and matching. Graft vs Host disease is not the problem it used to be.

  I guess it has changed a great deal, although JeffT is obviously far more familiar with the nuance of it.

  I remember my own bout with cancer therapy. I was 20.

  It has been 17 years, but I remember it better than what I did this day last week.

  My oncologist, my surgeon, the technicians that handled my radiation therapy....they all truly excelled in their work. They were at the top of their game.

  In addition, they all treated me with genuine empathy and humanity. I was a human being to them.

  These fine people saved my life.

  I am grateful for them.
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  JeffT

  A good example of how transplant technology has changed. When I was working in Dad's lab the minimum planned stay for a patient was 100 days. Many stayed in the hospital longer than that, and a significant portion of the time was in special isolation rooms (in the early days some of it looked like the set for the original version of "The Andromeda Strain."

  A few years ago there was a lawyer that worked for a firm on the floor above my employer. We got to know each other ridding up and down the elevator and talked frequently. I became aware that he was ill (he looked sick, and his schedule changed). Then I heard from a coworker who had more contact with him that he had leukemia. He was absent for about a week and when I saw him again I asked him how he was doing.

  He grinned, and said "Great. I had a stem cell transplant at the Hutchinson Center last week."

  There are a number of factors that have gone into this change, many may not be obvious to those not connected to the profession. Tissue typing is something that goes on in a lab. Chemo is still a bitch, but the drugs are better and do have fewer side effects. (I know, fewer is a relative term. It IS better than it was.) Radiation can be targeted and given in smaller doses. Peripheral issues (sensory changes, diet, psychology) are understood better and can be addressed.
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  pontoon
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  pontoon

  Just have to add my name to the list of cancer survivors. Chemo, surgery, more chemo, back in 1982-84. I'm still here, healthy. Don't anyone think there is ever going to be a "cure" for cancer like just ONE cure to fix all cancers. Just too many different cancers. Also, there are already cures for cancer, I'm proof of that as are others already posted on this subject. Remember to that many of the chemo drugs come from tropical rain forest. I feel that chemotherpy is just intensified homopathy, and time does count. I received six different chemo drugs in my treatment. Each one attacked the cancer cells in a different way---one stopped the cell from dividing, another appeared to be food but it wasn't so the cells starved...... and so on. It was a long time ago and I forget the names of all the different chemos and what they did, but at the time I was going through it I was very on top of everything and understood what the Drs. were doing and why. I also believe there is more money to be made in cures than keeping people sick, and if cures are driven by greed, so what, its like go ahead and save my life, I really don't care if you're doing it so you can buy a bigger house. I could go on and on, but I won't, just two cents worth.
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  botchtowersociety

  Tissue typing is something that goes on in a lab.

  New MicroRNA diagnostics are now being used to find out the origination of cancers of unknown primary origin. MiRNAs are like a "fingerprint" which uniquely identify where the cancer originated. Very cool stuff. Recently there was a man that was undergoing therapy for a very long time, and without resolution. He had cancer, but they could not tell what kind it was with the available tests. With the new genomic tests, they found out it was breast cancer (rare in men). They adjusted the therapy accordingly, and now he is in complete remission.
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  talesin

  BIG PHARMA + BIG GOVERNMENT = AVERAGE CITIZEN LOSING
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  botchtowersociety

  BIG PHARMA + BIG GOVERNMENT = AVERAGE CITIZEN LOSING

  Indeed, but the science is still advancing. It just makes it take longer to become available.

  One patient with advanced resistant lymphoma had his tumors gone in 36 hours in a clinical trial, and no chemo (well, technically it is a highly targeted chemo).

  This is a great story:

  http://www.med.miami.edu/news/cancer-survivor-meets-researcher-who-helped-save-his-life

  I expect SGN-35 (brentuximab vedotin) will be on the market next year. It should be approved by the FDA later this year.