3 ms·

"Researchers have seen promising results so far, but there have also been tragic outcomes, with five patients dying while undergoing treatment during clinical t

by cube00 10y ago

"Researchers have seen promising results so far, but there have also been tragic outcomes, with five patients dying while undergoing treatment during clinical trials this past year." It would be good if they could explain if that was caused by this new treatment or if the cancer was just too far advanced when treated.

endymi0n 10y ago
One hint inside was the strong side effects caused by the sudden cytokin toxin release due to the immune system metabolizing sometimes literally kilograms of cancer bacteria in a very short time.
- knodi123 10y ago
  I was under the impression that for this reason, surgical resectioning was a necessary component of any viable approach for larger tumors.
randcraw 10y ago
In general, I suspect they know. If the death was caused by the drug the patient should show signs of abnormal immune response, like those of a cytokine storm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm Also if the trial is allowed to continue, the study's monitors have decided that the study protocol wasn't violated, thus the drug wasn't 'misbehaving' to an unacceptable degree. Of course in late stage cancers with few/no further approved treatments, the decision of go vs no go on any course of action is often left to the patient and family, so 'unacceptable' can become a matter of will. From all I've read, administration of immunotherapies of all kinds is tricky and often leads to treatment complications often due to improper administation of the drug or inadequacies in monitoring the patients' response, since most doctors (like oncologists) are inexperienced in recognizing early signs of abnormal immune response.
- ars 10y ago
  One research avenue would be using dialysis to remove cytokines. Ordinary dialysis does not remove much, but apparently there are some new filters that might work: https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/369155 https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/369155

by cube00 10y ago

endymi0n 10y ago

One hint inside was the strong side effects caused by the sudden cytokin toxin release due to the immune system metabolizing sometimes literally kilograms of cancer bacteria in a very short time.

knodi123 10y ago
I was under the impression that for this reason, surgical resectioning was a necessary component of any viable approach for larger tumors.

randcraw 10y ago

In general, I suspect they know. If the death was caused by the drug the patient should show signs of abnormal immune response, like those of a cytokine storm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm Also if the trial is allowed to continue, the study's monitors have decided that the study protocol wasn't violated, thus the drug wasn't 'misbehaving' to an unacceptable degree. Of course in late stage cancers with few/no further approved treatments, the decision of go vs no go on any course of action is often left to the patient and family, so 'unacceptable' can become a matter of will. From all I've read, administration of immunotherapies of all kinds is tricky and often leads to treatment complications often due to improper administation of the drug or inadequacies in monitoring the patients' response, since most doctors (like oncologists) are inexperienced in recognizing early signs of abnormal immune response.

ars 10y ago
One research avenue would be using dialysis to remove cytokines. Ordinary dialysis does not remove much, but apparently there are some new filters that might work: https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/369155 https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/369155