Email I received from Dr. Shimon Slavin about his immunology treatments

[Guest guest]

This is the email I received about one hour after I sent my email to the

Doctor!!! I think his response shows a lot of humanity. There is also a lot of

info in this that isn't directly medical but is the stuff that all cancer

patients deal with, so I left it in. I still don't completely understand how it

works in practice. I am going to send him my info for a consultation,and boy he

must be a great person to do this consult for $400.

Dear Ms. Lowry,

Indeed, we are now in the process of clinical application of

innovative modalities based on immunotherapy and other personalized

approaches for the treatment of cancer in patients that are resistant

to conventional anti-cancer modalities or with metastatic disease not

expected to be cured by conventional anti-cancer agents. Our methods

focus on using a two-step approach:

[1] Conventional tumor debulking modalities (surgery, radiation

therapy and conventional chemotherapy, which in your case may have

been already exhausted;

[2] Application of innovative yet experimental modalities involving

allogeneic cell therapy with in vitro activated anti-cancer effector

cells, other selective anti-cancer agents not excluding newer

compounds targeting cancer specific intra-cellular signal transduction

pathways, treatment with cancer-seeking viruses and using personalized

anti-cancer vaccines.

As a rule, we prefer to treat patients with poor long-term prognosis

but at a stage when they are still in good clinical condition,

preferably at a stage of minimal residual disease. We prefer to deny

treatment for patients with poor performance status with end stage and

bulky disease, with anticipated short life expectancy that may not

allow sufficient time for immunotherapy to be effective, thus avoiding

false hopes, frustration and unnecessary expenses. Yet, if the

general patient’s condition (performance status) is still reasonably

good, despite advanced disease, and the patient and family are eager

to exploit every possible modality, can afford it without sacrificing

unavailable means, understand the experimental nature of our

procedures and also willing to accept a loss in case we cannot do the

impossible, we may be willing to try, but only after receiving the

full details and making sure the patient fulfils the minimum

requirements for any of the ongoing protocols.

In case the patient wishes to proceed corresponding with our center

before making actual decisions, realizing that many of our unique

treatment options are highly experimental, we will be glad to do the

best we can. In general, our approach is personalized and therefore,

we need to characterize the details of each tumor because our approach

is both tumor-specific and patient-specific.

Unfortunately, now in my new location in Tel Aviv at the International

Center for Cell Therapy & Cancer (ICTC), I am overloaded with requests

for consultations from all over the world, so I have to be selective

since it takes much of my time to review each request and provide a

personalized treatment plan. Therefore, in case you wish to proceed

with the consultation over emails I will need your most recent CDs and

then spend much time with additional information I will need, so all

of this means more of my time. In that case I will have to charge for

this consultation a global fee of $400 and this is for the time I will

need to spend for reviewing the case, and then provide the patient and/

or the treating physician with my final recommendations, with fully

detailed explanations of procedures that may be applicable at our

center.

In case the would like to proceed, electronic transfer of consultation

fee should be made addressed to Biotherapy International (not to Prof.

Shimon Slavin), as follows (I took this out):

Here is my address for CDs, medical report and any additional hard

copies of relevant materials (please avoid sending piles of irrelevant

old blood tests and full copies of patient’s chart):

Shimon Slavin M.D.

Professor of Medicine

International Center for Cell Therapy & Cancer (ICTC)

At the Tel Aviv Medical Center

This email from the doctor was in response to one I wrote:

On 12 Dec 2007, at 02:07, Lowry wrote:

> Dear Doctor Slavin:

>

> My new doctor, Dr. Dunphy, of San Francisco, told me about you and

> your groundbreaking work using immunology techniques to attempt to

> treat cancer. I am very interested in seeing if I can get treated.

>

> I am stage IV Colon Cancer, diagnosed at stage IIIb in May of 2005

> which as since spread (twice now) to the liver, possibly pelvis and

> possibly lungs (they got that info from a Petscan so its the best

> they have to go with). I have had a sigiostomy (I know I butchered

> that word but I'm hoping you know what I'm trying to say, removal of

> some of the lower colon). That was followed by chemo (Folfox), but

> the cancer came back three months later as a 5-1/2 " cyst in my

> pelvis which was removed by Dr. -Aguilar, a great surgeon.

> After the second surgery I had radiation along with oral chemo

> (Xoloda), but it came back four months after the radiation to my

> liver and lungs. I bet you've heard this story a lot.

>

> Day by day I feel healthy, and do a lot (I have a radio show on a

> local radio station and have just started a blog for cancer patients

> to use as a clearing house about various cancer treatments, its so

> hard to find out what is out there and the veracity of any treatment).

>

> I had to cut my last chemotherapy session short as I couldn't take

> this third series of chemotherapy, my body is starting to shut

> down. Obviously this treatment is not working and the doctors have

> given me about until the middle of next year to live, but I plan on

> making it longer than that. Currently I am under Dr. Dunphy's care,

> but I am writing to you to see if you are taking on any more

> patients and what being your patient entails (i.e. how long the

> treatment lasts, is it all done in Israel, information like that).

> My doctor estimated that you charge around $18,000 for this, is that

> about right? Would you have any payment plans as after two years of

> this cancer my resources are depleted (I'm sure you've heard that

> one too). BUT, I am a tough old bird (54) and know that I can get

> the money together somehow and am not in the habit of making

> promises I can't keep.

>

> Do you think there is a chance you can help me? If not is there

> anyone else you know in the U.S. who could do what you are doing?

> (I am in Northern California).

>

> Thank you for reading this. Thank you for researching cancer.

> Thank you for following a different plan from the normal path to

> research; because I can vouch that surgery and chemotherapy don't

> work too well. Bless you and here's hoping!

>

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