Off Topic Goose and Gander Re: Universal Medicaid and Medicare Coverage for Provenge - We Need Your Help

[Guest guest]

I haven’t read this thread in detail, but

the reference to a one man study and the relative value of that put me in mind

of how dismissively any claims made for a ‘natural’ cure would be treated if

one man clamed to have lived for four years longer than everyone thought he

would because he took cats claw, or Vitamin C or ………….[you name it].

As I say just a lone comment which seems

to illustrate how closed some sight lines can be.

All the best

Prostate men need enlightening, not frightening

Terry Herbert - diagnosed in 1996 and

still going strong

Read A Strange Place for unbiased information at http://www.yananow.org/StrangePlace/index.html

From: ProstateCancerSupport [mailto:ProstateCancerSupport ] On Behalf Of Alan Meyer

Sent: Monday, 25 April 2011 2:13

PM

To: ProstateCancerSupport

Subject: Re: [sPAM] Re:

Re: Universal Medicaid and Medicare Coverage for

Provenge - We Need Your Help

Chuck

Maack wrote:

> The URL I posted led to the following paper back in February,

> and granted, in the report was the evidence that one man

> experienced at least a four year survival. Let’s not down-play

> the importance that one man experienced. ...

We have seen how the response to specific treatments varies

tremendously from one cancer patient to another.

I think what we really need now is for someone to study that man

and figure out what is different about him that produced the four

year survival, and also to study the men who got little benefit

and find out what they had in common.

This is one of the frontiers in current cancer research. Some

day doctors will be able to analyze a patient's DNA and the

molecular biology of his specific tumor cells and will be able to

tell exactly what treatments the patient will and won't respond

to. When we reach that day, costs will go down because we won't

apply expensive treatments to patients who can't benefit from

them. Side effects will go down because we won't apply toxic

treatments to patients who can't benefit from them. Survival

will go up because the patients who can benefit from a treatment

will get that treatment and get it earlier than would be the case

today.

It will take time, hard work, insight, expertise, a lot of

experience with each treatment, and a little luck.

I don't know if four months of median life extension is worth

$93,000 or not, but I do wish to continue with the development,

the study, and the application of Provenge in hopes that, over

time, we'll be able to get longer and longer responses from it.

Alan