Cancer article includes CML/Gleevec

October 1, 2009

Parade magazine this past Sunday featured an article on the dramatic

breakthroughs in cancer treatment and highlighted the success of Gleevec.

Thought you might like a little reinforcement on the how and why. Many of us

are here because of Gleevec, so a lot of us will always feel loyal towards it,

even though we not be on it at present. I will always have a special affinity

for it because it got me off INF, but now scientists believe that if you were on

INF before other TKI's, you are more apt to have longevity than if you never

took INF. There will always be pros and cons about which came first the chicken

or the egg, but I believe that Gleevec came in the nick of time for many of us

who were living on the edge. Some of us here remember what it was like before

Gleevec, so if you are one, tell us something about yourself before and after if

you want to revisit that scenerio.

The article written by Dr. Francis S. talks about how important genetic

research is in the way cancer is diagnosed and treated today. He calls the

newer TKI's " carpet-bombing " strategy, or " smart bombs " . There is a picture of

Judy Orem with her family and if I never remember another name, that name will

always stick with me as it was the first name I heard associated with Gleevec.

She was one of the first patients, and I know Zavie can add to that story.

Today 95% of the patients who took Gleevec are alive today. He goes on to

explain that in due time, every type of genetic alteration that causes cancer

will be known. You may have heard of The Cancer Genome Atlas, (Dr. is

the head of it) which is a National Institutes of Health project.

The work continues and we need to tell our represesntatives in Washington to

fund the NCI and NIH to up the standards and the ante to spend more on cancer

cures. A most interesting article for everyone who has been touched by cancer.

It was in last Sunday's paper but my computer was down and out with H1N1, and I

don't know how long this article will be available, they are constantly

changing, so go now and download it and read it later if you don't have time

now.

FYI,

Lottie Duthu

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