Don't get excited yet: Immunotherapy Cancer breakthrough?

[the-pi-guy]

The research is yet to be published, which means it hasn't been peer-reviewed (vouched for by scientists outside of the study), and is tough to evaluate. But the data Riddell is reporting is indeed impressive. In one study, the therapy eliminated all symptoms in 94 percent of participants with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, with other blood cancers showing response rates greater than 80 percent. More than half the subjects reportedly experienced complete remission.

And these patients are ones who seemed sick beyond all hope.

"We have very high rates of complete responses in patients that have failed all other conventional therapies, including bone marrow transplantation," Riddell said during the briefing.

But the BBC reports that seven of the patients had immune responses so severe they ended up in intensive care — and two of those patients died as a result.

These risks are the biggest hurdle for immunotherapy to overcome. But even ignoring the potentially fatal side-effects, which Riddell hopes could be avoided by using lower doses of the therapy, the treatment has a long way to go before we can hail it as a catch-all cure for cancer. For now, it has only been used to treat cancers of the blood.

Not even the excited researchers behind the findings really think this will be a cancer "cure." What they hope is that their therapy can finally usher immunotherapy into the ranks of standard cancer treatment — something that could be used routinely alongside chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical interventions.

Why it's too early to get excited about this 'unprecedented' new cancer treatment - The Washington Post

[Xevross]

Hmm sounds promising but two people dying is a big worry. It looks like this is still a very long way away and the lack of peer reviews means its unreliable at the moment.

[Dr. Pezus]

Well the immune system is a powerful thing, but the trick is not to kill people... Let's hope it will still work with less intensive therapy. Also, I don't think there will ever be a magic drug that can cure all cancer, because it's such a vast group of different diseases

[darkknightkryta]

Not gonna lie, this sounds like what happened to Wade Wilson.