Impact of Salinomycin on human cholangiocarcinoma: induction of apopto

Ken, I share your enthusiasm and wish for our cancer to be included in the newest research advances. We need it, we deserve it, but we need to fight for it.
If I may share with you:
Given the almost six years of my navigating the maze of involvement with Clinical Trials, Research Advocacy, NCI Appointments, Disease Specific Task Forces, FDA Advocacy Participations, Drug Information Association Advocacy and Programs, Steering Committees, attendance of medical conferences and rare disease relevant symposiums, recruiting and training of volunteers and much more, I can tell you that the absolute biggest challenge we continue to face is the fact that we are classified a “Rare Cancer.” Here is where everything comes to a screeching halt. We lack the necessary funding from Government, Entrepreneurs and other individuals in order to drive forward research and development and we continue to see a lackluster interest from Academia to virtually non-existent interest from Industry.
Having said that we must recognize the accomplishments achieved for our cancer within the last few years such as the very first standard of care, advanced treatment options, increased awareness of this disease in the US and worldwide, and a steadily increasing development of clinical trials.
Herewith, dear Ken, I offer my help. Like you I would like our cancer to be included in the above mentioned research because; our patients as much as everyone else deserve a chance at receiving life saving and life extending treatments.
Hugs,
Marion

Thanks so much, Ken for enclosing the link and for clarification of the approach taken.
The way I understand it (in the most simple of forms) is that their elaborate cell culture model for in-vitro cell lines produced the desired result.
This then differs from observing the heterogeneity of drug response in fresh human tumors to chemotherapeutic agents and the numerous others ways of growing and applying culture cells. Oh my, I am over my head on this one and better stop right now.
Please, dear Ken, keep us posted on the developments.
And the best of luck on your hopefully “final” lung tumor extraction.
Hugs,
Marion

One and All: This is exactly the kind of passion I am looking for, but first some clarifications.

The research I am speaking of is not on tumor samples post surgery and such but on actual tumors grown in the lab. The great aspect of this approach is that different drugs, combat ions, and strengths can be evaluated in the lab in a near “live” situation. Such an approach can get at the fundamentals much more quickly, and on a personal level, than can be achieved thru long term studies. In the case discussed in the article, the patient, and believe or not one of the researchers, each had a condition that causes recurring tumors with no known or proven treatment method, sans surgery. Success for the individual was achieved by growing the tumor in the lab and hen trying known, different, and new drug theraphies. In the end, a new and different drug was determined to be the best.

I plan to write both the researchers and the oncologist I saw at Mayo, Rochester, MN, to see if I can get them to use the tumors from my lungs tat I exect to ave removed in December as a starting point.

Thanks for he comments back and I will keep you nformed.

Ken

Hi Ken,

I will add my 2c to what Marion wrote.

We see new medical studies coming out all the time that use CC cells grown in the lab. Many of these studies sound promising.

Here’s the problem though:

It’s very easy to kill cancer cells in a petri dish. Lots of drugs/compounds can do it if applied at high enough concentrations.

Unfortunately, it’s extremely hard to kill the same cells in the human body — and not kill the patient at the same time.

The road from petri dish, to mice/rat studies, to human clinical trials, to FDA approved cancer drug, is long and arduous. New cancer drugs take up to 20 years to develop.

That said, you are absolutely right. We need to see more CC studies. The CC Foundation (Marion in particular) does a lot of work in the medical community to encourage new studies. AMMF charity in the UK does similar advocacy work.

Best wishes,
Eli

Gavin and others: I recently read an article in the USA Today which was a summary of a JAMA article regarding a new method for growing cancer cells in the laboratory. The method was discussed with regard to developing a drug treatment for a recurring non-cancerous tumor that was very rare and caused the involved individual to have to undergo over 340 surgeries over the past 20 plus years of his 24 year old life. The work to grow cancer cells in the lab and then use the small tumors as a means to identify effective treatment regimes was being done at Georgetown University in Washington, D. C.

Given the strong similarity of this none responsive tumor to the behavior of CC to chemo or radiation, is anyone aware of or would it be beneficial to start a campaign to grow CC in the lab as a means to significantly escalate the speed by which an effective treatment could be developed?

I had a large fist sized tumor and half of my liver removed 18 months ago, experienced a single mestastes of the cancer to my left lung 9 months after my initial surgery and had that 8 mm nodule removed, and now am waiting to have three additional nodules of the same size removed from my lungs. As I may have lots of lung to give now, and would love to believe that these will be the last nodules ever, I would even better like to have a true solution to end the cancer in my body without having to experience the shooting in the dark process of current chemo therapies which appear to have a near zero long term success rate.

Thanks

Ken