[mikeb]

New York Times article on clinical trials

by mikeb on Tue Mar 24, 2015 11:07 pm

Hi Everyone,

In several of my previous Beacon posts, I've urged Beacon readers to consider participating in clinical trials if given the opportunity.

I participate in a large multinational clinical trial. I think that my participation has been a win-win situation. I know I've benefited from being part of the trial. And I hope that my participation is helping, at least in a small way, to move us closer to a cure for multiple myeloma.

So I was happy to see an article in today's New York Times about cancer clinical trials. I strongly recommend the article for anyone who is curious about the basics of what clinical trials are, how they work, and how they are vitally important in helping advance cancer treatment. The article can be found at:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com//2015/03/23/the-road-to-cancer-treatment-through-clinical-trials/.

Mike

[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: New York Times article on clinical trials

by Nancy Shamanna on Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:15 am

Nice article, Mike, and timely since the book 'The Emperor of All Maladies' has been made into a TV documentary. I am sure that many readers here have read the book, it's available in public libraries. You can see that it was recommended in our informal book club last year also.

I liked the excerpt about rituximab, a monoclonal antibody, used for Non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Dr. Wendy Schlessel Harpham of Dallas, whose non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was diagnosed in 1990, is today a highly productive author and speaker because she participated in early trials of rituximab, a monoclonal antibody. Despite intensive chemotherapy and radiation, her disease recurred and, with no other good options, she entered three successive trials that tested rituximab first for safety, then effectiveness.

She had further recurrences, all treated with rituximab, which was approved in 1997. With her last recurrence in 2007, she is now enjoying her longest remission and credits the trials with enabling her to see her three children grow up.

That is really hopeful news for myeloma patients, since monoclonal antibodies are being tested for our cancer too!