Katy66 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Saw hubby's ONC yesterday and he is officially taking a much needed break from checmo. Scans were good, not a lot of change but stable. It had only been two weeks since last scan. I'm happy for the break and know he needs but there is a part of me that says "If he isn't doing chemo then what are we doing to fight this?" Gotta work past that! They talked to us about vaccine clinical trial. I read about it months ago but we weren't ready for it then so I've got to research more. Just wondering what you guys knew about it. This is apparently a fairly new phase of the study. He has to be a month out from his last chemo to start. Hubby is still having some coughing side effects from the radiation (due to swelling in the lung). They gave him an extended run of steroids and some antibiotics to be on the safe side. They also scheduled him an ENT appt to discuss having his vocal cord repaired. You can't imagine how nice it would be to hear his voice, unhoarse, again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick C Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 There is one Vaccine that is being developed at the U of Miami by by Dr. Eckhard Podack...is this the one? This vaccine utilizes lung tumor cell secretions that facilitate the generation of killer cells. Specfically this is a NSCLC treatment. Our foundation has helped fund this research through the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy66 Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Honestly I'm not sure yet. We are waiting on the call to go back in and meet with their Clinical Trial Specialist in the next few weeks. I'll look into this one in the meantime, THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Baker Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 There have been quite a few vaccine trials. I looked at some right after my surgery, but the only ones I was elgible for were far away, and gave half of the patients placebos. I wasn't willing to travel for a 50/50 shot at trial vaccine treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianew Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 There are two that I know of - probably more - I think one is Stimuvax, and the other one, which I'm on at the moment, is Lucanix. If you type that into your search engine you should get lots of good information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bud Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 http://cancergrace.org/lung/2008/09/22/lucanix/ If this stuff works Dr. West will be selling "Sham Wows" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Joe B was in a vaccine trial at NIH. You can PM him for details or search his posts about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patti B Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Katy- I just discussed this with my PA yesterday - not that I need one right now but was looking down the road. She said Phase 3 and 4 won't want me - not fresh meat - but I might be able to get into a Phase 1 or 2. Phase 1 scares me but she told me that my onc will look at the way the drug works. She says I am lucky because 50% of his time is spent on reasearch so he has a better understanding of how they work. And my Dr. is Dr. Pennel over at cancergrace so maybe when you find out the name of the trial you might want to run it past him and get an opinion. Good luck to the both of you Hus - Patti B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianew Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Bud - I have on several occasions read Dr. West's post, carefully, and in its entirety, and nowhere do I see him indicating he thinks this trial is a "sham". He closes as follows: "Finally, I think it will be challenging to get enough patients enrolled who have shown stable disease or responded to first line therapy and are now off of treatment, not yet on second line therapy, and not yet progressing. That’s really threading a needle, and trials that have had such a narrow window for enrollment have had a very difficult time accruing patients. That said, this work looks intriguing enough that I really hope I’m wrong, that many patients are interested in enrolling and the trial accrues quickly. I’d be interested to hear whether people here would be willing to enroll on such a trial, or whether they would be unwilling to subject themselves to be randomized to a placebo in the maintenance setting after first line treatment." They are having problems getting enough people into the trial and are currently broadening their parameters in hopes of increasing the number so that the trial can be completed. I'm told this will hopefully be accomplished by December. This is a "trial" - not a guarantee of certain success. If it weren't for trials, some of which work, and some of which don't, we wouldn't have any of the new drugs available now. Personally, I don't find your attitude helpful at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy66 Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Looking at the two I bet it is the Lucanix. Thanks for the info! I'll do some reading and keep you guys posted on what we decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy66 Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 PS - We are leaning toward yes. It is local and what do we have to lose??? Of course we need more details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bud Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I didn't say it was a sham, Did you ever hear of Sham Wow, the towel that picks up everything? And I read His remarks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianew Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Sorry if I took it wrong, but no - can't say that I've ever heard of "Sham Wow" . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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