Broad spectrum virus removal and potential cancer cure announced this week!....

Today's Post: Friday, 8-12-2011

An astounding thing was announced this week.

If either a real cancer cure for all cancers OR
a drug that killed all of any dangerous virus you came down with,
were ever announced, you would think that would be front page news!

Last week they were BOTH announced!

Astoundingly neither story made it to the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle or the San Jose Mercury News. (If they were, it was not in large enough print to stand out; and I missed them.)

I saw them because they did reach the online health news on both Yahoo and Google.

This post is in case YOU missed them.

Of course, each one will need to be tested for safety and to be sure it’s as good as the initial reports make it sound.

The stories suggest they may well both pass and be as effective on everything as the initial indications showed.

I. The list of viruses that kill or often kill or cause lasting harm is long. West Nile virus, polio, HIV, Ebola, small pox, dengue, yellow fever, and many, many more. Some kinds of flu and most kinds of flu in some people also are on this list.

What if you could give someone who had a ridiculously dangerous virus or was doing poorly with a virulent flu a drug that would kill all the virus right away?

It would be like penicillin was for killing bacteria when we first realized how effective it was.

Something that may be just exactly that was announced this week.

It has been tested as effective against cold viruses too. But since I’ve read that killing enough viruses all at once can cause kidney failure if you aren’t careful, it will likely be reserved for more serious work. You can get over a cold without risking a hospital stay. Or, it may be safe to use in lower doses initially and then end with a large dose once there are less viruses to kill. That has not yet been tested.

But if you have a cold and the flu and viral pneumonia all at the same time, it could be life-saving.

More later on how it works and the research news is later in this post.

II. Cancer is often horrible stuff. It can kill. It can cause unbelievable pain. It and the treatment for it can disfigure you dreadfully and remove some of your ability to function normally.

Worse, you can get treated and seem cancer free only to have it come back worse than it was. So, people who are in that group of cancer survivors may be cured or they may just be out on temporary leave.

What if no matter what kind you had or where in your body it was, you could remove ALL of it, period and in a reasonably short time?

What if you could do that without radiation or even surgery if the tumor wasn’t too large?

Something that may be just exactly that was announced this week!

The news stories:

I. DRACO: A Broad-Spectrum Antiviral for HIV, Hep and Other Viruses (from AIDS MEDS online news source) August 12, 2011

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory have developed and demonstrated a novel broad-spectrum antiviral approach, called DRACO, which stands for double-stranded RNA activated caspase oligomerizer, that may prove to be effective against virtually all viruses, including HIV and hepatitis, according to a report published online by PLoS One. DRACO selectively induces apoptosis, or cell suicide, in cells containing any viral double-stranded RNA, rapidly killing infected cells without harming uninfected cells.

Viruses pose serious health threats worldwide. For viruses such as HIV or hepatitis, emerging viruses such as avian or swine influenza, and highly lethal viruses such as Ebola or smallpox that might be used in bioterrorist attacks, relatively few therapeutics exist. Most medications that do exist are highly specific for one virus, are ineffective against virus strains that become resistant to them, or are associated with side effects.

According to the PLoS One report, authored by Todd Rider, PhD, and his colleagues, DRACO was shown to be effective against all 15 viruses that the team has so far tested in cells, including cold viruses (rhinoviruses), H1N1 influenza strains, adenoviruses, a stomach virus (reovirus), a polio virus, dengue fever virus, and several members of hemorrhagic fever virus families. DRACO was also demonstrated to be nontoxic in 11 different cell types representing various species, notably humans, monkeys and mice, and organ types (for example, heart, lung, liver and kidney).

Experiments also demonstrated that DRACO prevented the deaths of mice infected with a lethal dose of H1N1 influenza. Currently, the team is testing additional viruses in mice and beginning to get promising results with those as well.

Though additional testing is needed, Rider and his colleagues suggest that DRACO has the potential to revolutionize the treatment and prevention of virtually all viral diseases. They also hope that DRACO’s broad-spectrum activity will render it useful against new or mutated viruses, such as the 2003 SARS outbreak.

Search: DRACO, MIT, Lincoln Laboratory, Rider, antiviral, HIV, hepatitis, HCV, Ebola, H1N1, SARS"

My comment:

This is a drug that uses genetic know how to kill viruses by killing them when they try to go into hypergrowth mode. This prevents them from spreading or harming you much. Since the immune system gets rid of them after that, this is comparable to discovering a super-antibiotic that kills all germs was only for viruses.

This will be the case if it really is safe for when people's cells grow normally for upkeep, building, and repair. And it will be the case if it tests as safe in other ways.

It does sound so far as if it is extremely effective and possibly impossible for viruses to become resistant to it.

II. “The Week Magazine Health and Science posted on August 12, 2011, at 11:33 AM

Breakthrough: Can designer T cells cure cancer?
A groundbreaking study suggests that a patient's own immune cells can be genetically re-engineered into tumor-targeting "serial killers"

A new study suggests that genetically altered T cells can target and kill cancerous cells in the body.

Cancer researchers worldwide are heralding the results of a "sensational" new study, in which a team from the University of Pennsylvania showed that a cancer patient's own immune cells can be genetically re-engineered to target and kill cancer cells. Though it's a preliminary study involving only three patients with leukemia, the successful results have left typically staid medical researchers wildly buoyant. Here, a guide to this breakthrough:

How was this study conducted?
Blood samples were drawn from three people with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, an aggressive form of cancer that affects blood and bone marrow. The patients' T cells — a type of immune cell found in the blood — were then genetically re-engineered with a strict agenda: To find cancer cells and kill them. "We put a key onto the surface of the T-cells that fits into a lock that only the cancer cells have," says researcher Dr. Michael Kalos, as quoted in the Vancouver Sun. The modified T cells were then infused back into the patients' blood.

What happened to the patients?
The results were so dramatic, even the doctors were shocked: "Within three weeks, the tumors had been blown away, in a way that was much more violent than we ever expected," says researcher Carl June. Moreover, these patients' tumors were in an advanced stage, and the prognoses were quite negative. Following the treatment, however, "we saw massive reduction in tumour burden," says Dr. Kalos. "One patient had over seven pounds of tumor and it all disappeared."

Could the cancer return?
It's possible. But the modified T cells — which essentially became "serial killers" — proved hearty, growing their numbers more than 1,000 times through reproduction, and surviving for months. Plus, the researchers programmed the cells to produce dormant offspring T cells that would spring back to life if the cancer ever returned.

How are the patients doing?
A year after the therapy started, two of the patients had complete remission of leukemia, and one had a partial response to the therapy — (plus) the patient's cancer is less severe. One of the patients wrote in a first-person essay, "I'm healthy and still in remission. I know that this may not be a permanent condition, but I decided months ago to declare victory and assume that I had won."

Are there any downsides to this new therapy?
Yes. The treatment is so strong that it can result in "tumor lysis syndrome" — chills, nausea, and fever — caused when a large number of cancer cells die very suddenly. Because tumor lysis syndrome can result in kidney failure, the condition requires prompt medical treatment.

What are other cancer researchers saying?
Most are very enthusiastic. "This is a huge accomplishment — huge," says Dr. Lee M. Nadler of Harvard Medical School, as quoted in the Los Angeles Times. Researchers have been struggling for decades to develop cancer treatments that use a patient's immune system to kill tumors with greater precision, leaving the rest of the body unharmed. "It is kind of a holy grail," says Dr. Gary Schiller of UCLA.

When will the new therapy be available?

Not for several years, if ever. Much more research needs to be conducted to ensure that this treatment is safe and effective. "The longer term toxicities and efficacy are not at all clear," said Dr. Bruce Chabner of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, as quoted by ABC News. "[This treatment] could be historic, but it will take several more years and many more cases before we know."”

“Sources: ABC News, CNN.com, LA Times, Medical News Today, Vancouver Sun”

My comment: This one is not as clear cut to be able to cure every cancer as the antivirus drug sounds for viruses. Each kind of cancer is slightly different and likely needs a different “key’ and it’s even possible a single case of cancer may have some cells the initial key they find in most of them doesn’t fit all of the cells exactly.

Yet, it clearly is a huge step forwards to cancer treatment that is both effective and far less harmful to cancer patients than the “stone knives and bearskins”, -- however high tech -- that we have now -- with most radiation, most surgery, and most chemo treatments tending to cause a lot of collateral damage.