Donna G

Peggy, if you set up that web site, you are very good with computers! I have a neice in Massachusetts that is a teacher that I just sent this site address to. Wow, what a lot of work. Donna G PS got so excited with your web site forgot to say "welcome!" Now keep us posted on how things are going. Donna G

You should be so proud of your son! This sadly is the age when kids need to learn about the risks of smoking for soon peer presure of the wrong kind will get to them. Donna G

Sorry Karen, today I could not get it to come up either! Weird, it was there yesterday. There are several places on the web talking about it so I just did another search and found this from Mayo but this time I did copy, cut and paste so we don't loose it again! Donna G

Hi TeeTaa, you have gorgeous neighbors! Donna G

Nice, we have potential to do something really good. Donna G

Could it be really bad heartburn? Do you take Zantac? An antacid? If you have GERD ( gastric esophageal reflux disease) I understand that is worse at night. Donna G

Hi Rob and welcome. Hope we can be of help. We all know how devastating it is to be told you have lung cancer. I sounds as you have Stageing already that your Dad has been through the many tests that are necessary. I don't know if any one has mentioned it but it is so important that he have someone go with him to Dr appointment carrying a recorder or a notebook. It is so hard to even listen to all the DR. says , never mind remember it. I was lucky my husband was able to get to appointment especially those first few months to help me "hear" and "remember" what information was being given. Now keep us posted . Donna G

Mayo Clinic in Rochester Wednesday, February 02, 2005 Mayo Clinic Researchers Create 'Obedient Virus'; First Step to Use Measles Virus Against Cancer Additional Resources For appointments or more information, call the Central Appointment Office at 507-284-2111. Other Web Resource: Becoming a Patient Journalists: For more information, contact: Robert Nellis 507-284-5005 (days) 507-284-2511 (evenings) newsbureau@mayo.edu ROCHESTER, Minn. -- An international team of Mayo Clinic-led researchers is first to devise a system that consistently converts the measles virus into a therapeutic killer that hunts down and destroys cancer cells -- and cancer cells only. Their research findings appear as an advanced electronic article of Nature Biotechnology. The researchers harnessed the viral trait for attacking and commandeering cells, and then redirected the virus to attack diseased, rather than healthy cells. The work was done on laboratory animals implanted with two kinds of human cancer cells -- ovarian cancer and lymphoma -- and is probably still years away from use as a human therapy. But the concept has at last been proved in mice with human cancer tumors -- and that's an essential step toward using this approach to expand and improve human treatments for a variety of cancers. The "Obedient Virus" "When I saw the data, I was completely stunned. It's the sort of thing that, having worked on targeting viruses for about 15 years, I just couldn't believe that we'd finally got what we'd been hunting all that time," says Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D., lead researcher and director of Mayo Clinic's Molecular Medicine Program. "It's very clean, very clear targeting. Our results show that we've efficiently ablated (destroyed) the ability of the measles virus to interact with its two natural receptors. And they also show that we can take our pick as to what new receptor we target and send the virus after it." How They Did It Using bioengineering techniques, the team reprogrammed the measles virus to seek a cancer cell to bind to instead of its natural binding partner. Then they invented a "molecular tag" that they attached to structures on the outside of the cancer-seeking measles virus. This tag is the key innovation of their work and central to the success of the team's investigation. It enables researchers to grow retargeted measles virus on special "universal substrate cells" -- while at the same time conserving the viral component for targeting and destroying tumors. Mass production of a retargeted virus was not possible before this specific innovation of the molecular tag -- and research in this area was at an impasse. Not any more. "The virus goes where it's meant to go, and it destroys the tumors in a targeted way," says Dr. Russell. Background Biology Natural viruses are cellular parasites. To reproduce more viruses, they need to bind to a partner on their target cell, fuse membranes to enter the target cell and then take over the cellular machinery. When they succeed in doing this, an infection occurs. Viruses are so good at taking over cells that researchers have long dreamed of exploiting the specific attraction viruses have to certain cells and using it as a homing device to seek and enter cancer cells. The measles virus became the focus of this vision several years ago when the surprising finding was made that the measles strain used internationally for vaccinations has natural anticancer activity. "But we had a concern that the measles virus may be a little too promiscuous in its ability to infect both cancer cells and non-cancer cells, so we wanted to develop a method whereby we could retarget the virus to infect cancer cells only," says Dr. Russell. "And we succeeded." Collaboration and Support In addition to Dr. Russell, the Mayo Clinic research team includes Takafumi Nakamura, Ph.D.; Kah-Whye Peng, Ph.D.; Mary Harvey, Suzanne Greiner and Charles James. From the University of Ottawa, Ian A.J. Lorimer, Ph.D, contributed his expertise. The work was funded by The Mayo Clinic Foundation, the Harold W. Siebens Foundation, and the National Cancer Institute. # # # To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your health stories.

Margaret I am so sorry. I pray for peace for you and your family during this difficult time. Donna G

I had posted on another ribbon re the "Freedom to Breath Act" here in Minnesota, the debate continues. Donna G

Glad to see at the end they mention just burning wood in the fireplace is a big problem. Donna G

Great news. The greater power is Love and all who live in love live in him. Donna G

How could anyone forget that Patriotic picture! Boy that reminds me the Patriots are playing in the super bowl this weekend! Thanks for keeping in touch. Donna G

That is great! Wish you would ask the Experts that one. I know they had concerns that I could have my hearing affected adveresly by the Cisplatin, Lasix etc never heard of an improvement but take what you can get and enjoy! Donna G

Hi Barb, and welcome. Just one more week and the test. Boy we all know what that is all about. I pray that yours shows that you have NED as a close companion ( NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE) Waiting to hear how it goes, Donna G

O my, being a Bostonian, and patriotic, I like the Eagle but I must root for the Patriots. Donna G

Hi Traci, welcome. Hope we can help during this tough time. Donna G

Welcome, glad you found us. Now that you have posted please let us know how he is doing . Donna G

So sorry to hear you lost your Dad he was much to young. It was wonderful that he made it to your wedding. Of course he will always be in your heart and memories. I pray for you and your family for peace. Donna G

It has gotten cut to restaurants only so far, they are still working on it now in the house. Donna G

Prayers going up for Grandma. Donna G

That is so great. Hope you get to go and bring her daughter to see how Mom got her PHD. Donna G

yes, the pain did go away during treatment. Of course with surgery I had different and more pain but heck that was for a cure! I can tolerate some pain if it means I can live! WAiting to hear how the check up goes. Donna G

Kasey, GREAT NEWS. Mine was dead too at surgery. I had hoped they could tell me for sure if it was squamous or adenocarcinoma but they said it was just scar tissue at that point. Kasey try to be patient, it takes a while to get over the surgery. Are they planning more chemo? I had more, it had been the plan from the beginning. Donna G

Or you could say When you know millimeters......multiply by............to find inches ........................mm................0.04.......................inch ........................cm.................0.4.........................inch ........................meter.............3.3.........................feet ........................meters............1.1.........................yards ........................kilometers.......0.6.........................miles Easy? not really. Donna G