I know, I'm slipping back into not posting very frequently. No Mother's Day wishes, no video of Peter's recent concert. But I have a good excuse -- this is the last week of classes, so things have been especially busy, but that means they should ease up soon (at least for the week or so between all that grading I need to do and the start of my summer classes).
So here's a quickie: An article from the Science-Business eXchange on a potential improvement in NHL treatment. Researchers think that using half a dose of Rituxan and half of an anti-CD47 antibody might be more effective, with fewer side effects, than anti-CD20 (Rituxan) and chemotherapy:
http://www.nature.com/scibx/journal/v3/n37/full/scibx.2010.1109.html
(I should probbaly remind you that monoclonal antibodies like Rituxan work by targeting a specific protein that exists on the surface of a cancer cell. Rituxan targets the protein CD20. Other antibodies target other proteins.)
What I like about this research is is that it shows off my brilliance: I've been saying for a while that I thought the future of treatments would less likely to be a single agent that would cure everything, and more likely some combination of treatments that would fight things off over the long term. it sounds like that's what this anti-CD combo would do: target different proteins on the surface of cancer cells in ways that chemotherapy can't do. More targeted, less toxic, more effective. (This does show how brilliant I am, but I probably read all of that somewhere and am now taking credit for it. In fact, I'm sure that's what is happening.)
Anyway, this is certainly something worth following.
So here's a quickie: An article from the Science-Business eXchange on a potential improvement in NHL treatment. Researchers think that using half a dose of Rituxan and half of an anti-CD47 antibody might be more effective, with fewer side effects, than anti-CD20 (Rituxan) and chemotherapy:
http://www.nature.com/scibx/journal/v3/n37/full/scibx.2010.1109.html
(I should probbaly remind you that monoclonal antibodies like Rituxan work by targeting a specific protein that exists on the surface of a cancer cell. Rituxan targets the protein CD20. Other antibodies target other proteins.)
What I like about this research is is that it shows off my brilliance: I've been saying for a while that I thought the future of treatments would less likely to be a single agent that would cure everything, and more likely some combination of treatments that would fight things off over the long term. it sounds like that's what this anti-CD combo would do: target different proteins on the surface of cancer cells in ways that chemotherapy can't do. More targeted, less toxic, more effective. (This does show how brilliant I am, but I probably read all of that somewhere and am now taking credit for it. In fact, I'm sure that's what is happening.)
Anyway, this is certainly something worth following.
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