Drug prices continued: Innovation?
Pharmaceutical manufacturers claim that they need patent protection and marketing exclusivity so they can charge high prices to recoup the costs of drug development and clinical trials. There are a few things wrong with this argument, but they add up to the general fact that the system does not serve the public interest. Drug companies care about one thing only, that is profit. And the pursuit of profit does not serve the interests of public health or social welfare.One obvious mismatch between the goal of public health and the goal of profit is that a relatively cheap drug that you can take once or for a week or so, that ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 23, 2024 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
AL Myeloma/ Cardiac Amyloidosis
A dear friend of mine, whom I met via the blog many years ago, has been dealing with an unusual and very serious condition for several months. She asked if she could post an appeal on the blog to see if anybody else has had a similar experience or can help her in any way. If you have any information that might be useful to Clare in this very difficult moment, please let me know, or leave a comment on this post. If you want your comment to remain private, I will definitely respect your wish and send it only to Clare.
Thank you very much.
Here is what she wrote:
I’ve had smouldering Myeloma for 13 years without treatm...
Source: Margaret's Corner - November 23, 2023 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll amyloid deposits in heart amyloid myeloma Source Type: blogs
High-Throughput Testing of Hundreds of Anti-Cancer Drug Combinations
Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland have developed a high-throughput screening method for anti-cancer drugs that they have called “pharmascopy”. To date, the researchers have tested the system with multiple myeloma samples, a cancer that has a poor prognosis and is difficult to treat because of drug resistance. In such cancers, finding the right drug or drug combination for a given patent is critical. The approach involves seeding the cancer cells into 384-well plates, and then placing different drugs or drug combinations into each well. After a 24 hour period of incubation, the cells can be labelled with ...
Source: Medgadget - May 11, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Oncology ETH Zurich ethz Nature Cancer Source Type: blogs
A Second Cancer
It’s been a long time since I posted anything. Recently I was diagnosed with a second primary cancer. I’ve had surgery and am well on the way to recovery. My hematologist and the head and neck cancer specialist agreed it wasn’t necessary for me to undergo aggressive surgery for this cancer, so I didn’t have … (Source: beth's myeloma blog)
Source: beth's myeloma blog - May 4, 2023 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Beth Tags: Cancer Source Type: blogs
Participate in Research
GRYT Health is looking for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients to share their experience. Participants will be asked to complete two virtual research engagements: a 10-minute survey and a 90-minute interview. If you are interested in learning more about this research and/or participating, please visit our study webpage HERE or contact us at projects@grythealth.com. (Source: beth's myeloma blog)
Source: beth's myeloma blog - April 25, 2023 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Beth Tags: Life Source Type: blogs
Bottlebrush Particle for Synergistic Drug Combinations
A scientific team at MIT has developed a bottlebrush-shaped nanoparticle that can deliver combinations of drugs for synergistic efficacy. The particles contain a central backbone and demonstrate side-chains that sprout from this backbone, similar to the handle and bristles of a bottlebrush. Several drugs can be mixed in different ratios and combined with polymer building blocks during particle preparation, and then the drugs are released from the particle when the bristles are enzymatically cleaved from the particle body. The researchers have tested the particles in their ability to deliver combinations of anti-cancer drug...
Source: Medgadget - February 8, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Nanomedicine Source Type: blogs
Happy New Year!!!
Okay, okay, so I’m a bit (!) late for holiday greetings…but, in my defense, Stefano and I have had lots to do…We spent the holidays with his family in southern Italy and only returned to Florence a few days ago to our kitties and heaps of laundry .
Before we left Florence, I came across a super interesting article about curcumin and myeloma, but of course I’ve “lost” it and will have to look for it again. And even though I hate posting from my iPad, so annoying and slow, I will do so ASAP. Or rather ASIFTA (as soon as I find the article… ).
Anyway, all is well here in Florence…and I will be blogging soon...
Source: Margaret's Corner - January 9, 2023 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 2nd 2023
In conclusion, circulating monocytes in older adults exhibit increased expression of activation, adhesion, and migration markers, but decreased expression of co-inhibitory molecules.
MERTK Inhibition Increases Bone Density via Increased Osteoblast Activity
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/12/mertk-inhibition-increases-bone-density-via-increased-osteoblast-activity/
Bone density results from the balance of constant activity on the part of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, the former building bone, the latter breaking it down. With advancing age, the balance of activity shifts to favor osteoclasts, pro...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 1, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
MERTK Inhibition Increases Bone Density via Increased Osteoblast Activity
Bone density results from the balance of constant activity on the part of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, the former building bone, the latter breaking it down. With advancing age, the balance of activity shifts to favor osteoclasts, producing a gradual loss of bone density that leads to osteoporosis. Therapies have to date typically attempted to reduce osteoclast activity, but researchers here note an approach based on increased osteoblast activity.
Bones appear to be durable and solid. But appearances are deceptive: in fact, bone tissue is in a constant state of remodeling. Bone-degrading osteoclasts and bone-build...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 27, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Cy-Car-D
Right now, I’m getting cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), carfilzomib (Kyprolis), and dexamethasone every week. I’m tolerating it very well. Even though I had it in 2019 and eventually relapsed, it’s working for me. After this, I’m hoping to try TAK-573 in a clinical trial. Abstract Background TAK-573, a humanized, anti-CD38, IgG4, monoclonal antibody genetically fused to two … (Source: beth's myeloma blog)
Source: beth's myeloma blog - November 3, 2022 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Beth Tags: carfilzomib cyclophosphamide dexamethasone TAK-573 Source Type: blogs
Stomach flu
A couple of weeks ago I came down with a nasty case of viral gastroenteritis, more commonly known as the stomach flu. No idea how I got it…but…I got it. Well, at least Covid wasn’t involved in my case; my family doctor told me that a (small) percentage of his patients with my symptoms had turned up positive for Covid. That would have been a most unwelcome double whammy!
Petunia, October 2022
Anyway, I was quite sick for about a week, sleeping most of the time, eating nothing but bananas and toast, and watching heaps of TV series and documentaries…The cats were very helpful nurses, always by my side,...
Source: Margaret's Corner - October 31, 2022 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll stomach flu Source Type: blogs
Shirley Svorny, RIP
Michael F. CannonIt saddens me to convey that Cato Institute adjunct scholar and my friendShirley Svorny passed away October 20 from multiple myeloma. Shirley was less than two weeks shy of her 71st birthday.Shirley Viola Svorny entered the world in Los Angeles and earned her bachelor ’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.Herdissertation sought to “explain why U.S. policy makers diverged from their usual policy to allow unrestricted migration [of foreign‐trained physicians] from 1965 to 1980.” Without liberalization, “the unprecedented expansion in hea...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - October 26, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Michael F. Cannon Source Type: blogs
Kyphoplasty
I forgot to post an update after the kyphoplasty. It wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be! Since I’ve been getting Zometa for years, my bones are very hard. The neurosurgeon wasn’t used to seeing this with myeloma patients, whose bones are usually a lot softer than mine are. I remembered that, … (Source: beth's myeloma blog)
Source: beth's myeloma blog - September 9, 2022 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Beth Tags: Myeloma kyphoplasty radiofrequency ablation Source Type: blogs
Relapse and future plans
It’s been a while since I wrote. I began relapsing during the talquetamab/daratumumab/pomalidomide trial. I participated for about a year. The drugs worked for a good while – from June, 2021 until May, 2022. Here are graphs of the free light chains (ratio and free lambda) I have an appointment on September 20th to discuss … (Source: beth's myeloma blog)
Source: beth's myeloma blog - September 8, 2022 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Beth Tags: carfilzomib cyclophosphamide Cytoxan Darzalex pomalidomide Talquetamab Source Type: blogs
New curcumin myeloma clinical trial
Conclusion: “Curcumin has an efficacy in improving overall remission and decreasing NF-kB, VEGF, TNF-a, and IL-6 levels in myeloma patients.”
And so we have more proof…and this proof comes from actual myeloma patients, not from cells grown in a Petri dish. The evidence is piling up!
I wonder when (or if!) our myeloma luminaries and organisations are going to wake up to the fact that curcumin has a real potential to help us myeloma folks at every stage of this cancer. If I could, I would tell them (the above luminaries and organisations) to ignore the profits and benefits (international conferences held i...
Source: Margaret's Corner - August 5, 2022 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll curcumin myeloma clinical trial Source Type: blogs
