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I think this is important for every to look at.


Rick

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I think this is important for everyone to look at, however, have not seen to many individuals take a look.

We are working with Mary Crowley Medical Research Center as well as our current resident experts to create an area offering sound medical insight and information with the help of specialized Doctors and healthcare specialists.

Doctor such as

DALLAS, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- John Nemunaitis, M.D., oncologist and

researcher at the Mary Crowley Medical Research Center (MCMRC) at Baylor

University Medical Center at Dallas, has developed a vaccine that eradicates

lung cancer in some patients. Results of the clinical trial are published in

today's Journal of the National Cancer Institute in a paper titled "Phase I/II

Study of GVAX® in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)."

NSCLC is the leading cause of cancer death for men and women in the United

States. More than 150,000 people die from the disease each year.

In Dr. Nemunaitis' research trial 43 patients with early and advanced

stage NSCLC were injected with the vaccine, called GVAX®. Vaccines were

administered every two weeks for a total of three to six vaccinations.

"While it's premature to call this a cure, we found that in a small number

of people who were sensitive to this approach, the cancer hasn't come back.

And, for a number of patients, it has been more than three years since they

received the vaccine," said John Nemunaitis, M.D., principal investigator of

the study at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas.

Researchers developed the vaccine using cells obtained from each patient's

tumor. A gene, called GM-CSF, is placed into the cancer cells to change the

surface of the cells so the body can identify the cells as cancerous. Once

the vaccine is injected, the body's immune cells come to the injection site

and start to work with lymphocytes, immune cells that help rid the body of an

infection.

"We're trying to turn on the lymphocytes so they can identify the cancer

cells and clear it, just like the body clears the cold or flu virus or an

infection," Dr. Nemunaitis said.

Three patients with advanced stage lung cancer experienced complete

remission of their disease lasting six months, 18 months and ongoing at

22 months. For two of these patients, prior treatment with chemotherapy had

failed. One patient experienced a 30-percent decrease in the size of a lung

nodule, and for seven patients, their disease remained stable and did not

progress for a period ranging from almost five months to more than 28 months.

"These results are very promising for patients with non-small cell lung

cancer, which is frequently resistant to chemotherapy," Dr. Nemunaitis said.

"We believe this study is the first time immune therapy has been the sole

treatment associated with complete and durable regression of metastatic NSCLC

lesions, particularly those lasting more than one year, as observed in two

patients in our study."

While chemotherapy is an option for patients with advanced disease,

results show a 15 to 21 percent response rate, median survival of 7.4 to 8.2

months and one year overall survival of 31 to 36 percent. Early-stage

patients undergoing complete surgical resection have a greater than 75 percent

chance of surviving one year, but survival is reduced to 35 to 50 percent at

five years largely as a result of disease that recurs.

Dr. Nemunaitis conducted his research through the Baylor Research

Institute and the Mary Crowley Medical Research Center at Baylor. The center

is one of the largest patient treatment sites for gene therapy in the country.

For more information about cancer research studies at the Mary Crowley Medical

Research Center at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, visit

http://www.MCMRC.com .

Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas is a leading patient care and

research center for the Southwest. With more than 1,000 beds and 900

physicians on staff, Baylor is recognized by U.S. News & World Report among

America's best hospitals in a range of medical specialties. Currently at

Baylor, more than 500 research protocols are under way. For more information

about Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, visit http://www.BaylorHealth.com .

SOURCE Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas

Web Site: http://www.BaylorHealth.com http://www.MCMRC.com

are participating in this effort.

This is such a break through in that it allows Doctors helping patients and caregivers and also advising on clinical trials like the GVAX and finding the right clinical trial that is best suited for the individual. In this effort it is very important to keep your signature updated in your profile, stating the diganosis as well as current treatment process.

We will bring this site live this weekend and just want everyone to be aware of what this will offer.

I will be updating with more information when the opening of the area happens.

Rick

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I am currently being treated at Mary Crowley's and hopefully will start my second trial there soon. Dr. Nemunaitis is a pretty impressive guy and very down to earth. I believe the G-Vax is closed for good now, but there are other gene trials set to begin. I am trying the Epimmune trial and will report to you all about it. Hopefully, my blood counts will climb back up, so I can begin the trial. A blood test is required to see if you are a carrier of certain proteins that bond with the vaccine. You receive one shot for a period of six months. I have heard this vaccine is also treating Hep C and AIDS patients to boost their immune systems. I have asked about side effects and there appears to be few. I will keep you guys posted.

Cheryl

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Rick,

I think the new Ask the Experts link is great. I've checked it out almost every day to see if there is anything new there. I thank you for creating this helpful link for us.

I am just wondering why Dr. Joe (oncodoc), Teresa and John's bios aren't in the list. They have been our rock-solid experts here and helped many of us with our questions, and been very dependable. I've come to greatly trust their responses and am sure hoping they are going to continue to be BIG contributors to the new forum.

Dr. Woodward is another one who, although he doesn't post often, has been helpful in the past.

Thanks again.

Love,

Peggy

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fay, they have already acknowledged your post with excitement... they should get back with you soon... I however havent discussed weekends with them yet...

Rick

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I would like to ask, along with Peggy, why our own experts are not listed. Is there some kind of deal that makes Mary Crawly exclusive to this site? I would like to see it include our OWN if at all possible. Its a great idea..I hope it can include all of the experts that are or want to join at a later date.

Rick, as usual you are doing a great job. I depend on this site for information, moral support and friendships that I have made here. You can PM me if you like.

Nina

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not at all, if you look in the bio section there is a space for their bios as well and they will be gven the exact same rights and resources. I am just awaiting responses from emails that I have sent them in order to get them updated into the new site. This was just too important to wait and havent gotten any replies back as of today. I have been trying to get all of our current experts bios and etc. Mary Crowley is just 1 resource and we forsee it growing with many.

&&

The site was read only until this evening is why there was nothing being posted. I only turned on the ability to post this evening.

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