tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19802617.post6053358119387751430..comments2024-01-17T04:14:40.892-05:00Comments on A Pastor's Cancer Diary: September 3, 2008 - Another New CocktailCarlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00540884672406337833noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19802617.post-57234464218634451332008-09-03T18:29:00.000-04:002008-09-03T18:29:00.000-04:00Dear Pastor,Thanks for bringing clinical trials to...Dear Pastor,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for bringing clinical trials to attention. I am able to post this comment because in 1993 I was a "subject" in a Phase I trial of the first monoclonal antibody used in humans to treat cancer: rituximab (the "R" in your 1996 regimen). Without it, I (and my physicians) doubt I'd be here today.<BR/><BR/>To clarify your discussion of trials: Phase I trials - also called toxicity trials - are devised only to determine what levels of drug are tolerated in humans. They are not intended to test whether or not they work against cancer in people. (Of course, the researchers and patients can't help noticing if the trial subjects' cancers get better or worse.) <BR/><BR/>Phase II trials look at dose a little further, as well as look at effectiveness against a type of cancer. And Phase III trials are devised to compare the new treatment against standard treatment.<BR/><BR/>The NCI (National Cancer Institute) has a nice webpage on clinical trials: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Information/clinical-trials<BR/><BR/>Actually, and unfortunately, it is not a hop-skip-jump from a successful Phase III trial to being FDA approved. Nobody wants drugs released too soon, when people might be put at unnecessary risk of injury or death. And nobody wants drugs released too late, after people who might have benefited have already died. <BR/><BR/>Many dedicated researchers are trying to work with politicians and government workers to find better ways to get drugs from the bench to the bedside. <BR/><BR/>All I know is that clinical trials are the best way we know to find safer and better treatments. With well-funded and well-done trials that have enough patients enrolled, we will speed up improvements in treatment options.<BR/><BR/>There are no incurable diseases; only diseases for which scientists are working toward cures. <BR/><BR/>With hope, WendyWendy S. Harpham, MDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09167276216970598762noreply@blogger.com