Nickname: RxGrateful

Review: I, for one, am grateful to those people directly involved in trying to understand the causes for cancer and in the short run improving the lives of those who suffer from it. In my own particular case, I'm grateful to Genentech for making Rituxan available to me through my own oncologist. I've been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and thanks to Rituxan, I'm able to lead a relatively normal life. Rituxan is one of the first chemotherapies that does not have the typical side effects of hair loss, nausea, etc. I'm told that it's too early to tell if it is an actual cure for CLL but I deeply appreciate these last 5 years I've taken Rituxan.

Date reviewed: Aug 22, 2006 1:53 AM

Nickname: old oncologist

Review: Cancer is often curable now especially when caught in an early stage. Colon cancer is preventable when polyps are found and removed at colonoscopy. Lung cancer occurs in 1 of 250+ non-smokers, and depending years and number of cigarettes up to 1 of 6 smokers. Quitting at any age drops risk rapidly. One magic bullet is behavior change.

Date reviewed: Jul 15, 2006 1:48 PM

Nickname: Ronnin

Review: My wife had breast cancer and inflammatory breast cancer. She died 19 months after initial diagnosis. Anything that can be done to help people like her is a godsend. Anyone who is working to beat this disease is a warrior battling for mankind.

Date reviewed: Jun 7, 2006 2:14 PM

Nickname: chi

Review: I work in colon cancer research, and I agree that many of these drug treatments have come from dedicated scientists and clinicians. However, a drug company is a business, and turning a hefty profit is the motivating factor. We should be focusing on cures and not only drugs that should be taken for years on end. These drug regimens generate enormous profits for these companies, while bankrupting the patients they are meant to be helping. Many of my patients stop taking their drugs because they can no longer pay for them. I'm always glad to hear about new cancer therapies, but let's find a cure.

Date reviewed: Jun 6, 2006 2:44 PM

Nickname: Brwn8484

Review: I have seen friends and family struggle through cancer and chemo and drugs only (and finally) to succumb to the disease. After observing the effects of the drugs and chemo and radiation, I would rather go quickly and forget the agonizing months of treatment.

Date reviewed: Jun 6, 2006 2:00 PM

Nickname: P

Review: Anyone who says the drug companies are not working on "the cure" doesn't know enough about cancer or research at big pharma and biotech companies. As a previous poster said, thousands of the very best minds are working their hardest to find a cure, and the results we are seeing today are the best fruits of that labor. Even better, longer lasting or permanent therapies will come in the future because there would be huge financial rewards for finding such treatments, and because the companies also (believe it or not) have genuine interest in bettering human life. What we have today is simply the best science has to offer.

Date reviewed: Jun 6, 2006 5:35 AM

Nickname: Myshkin

Review: Science, worse than any other establishment, is dominated by orthodoxy. You could be Linus Pauling, have won 2 Nobel Prizes, and be excommunicated for challenging orthodoxy and that goes double for cancer theory and research.

Date reviewed: Jun 5, 2006 11:10 PM

Nickname: Mark Wendman

Review: Simply put, just watch Adherex Technology and their ADH-1 ability in a particular class of soft tissue tumors (n-cadherin marked) to destroy the tumor largely by dissolving the n-chdherin marked tumor vasculature - ie tumor blood vessels. The ADH-1 compound has passed P1 clinical trials with no upper dosing limit found to cause any toxicity. It is not perfect, but the small firm has a potential blockbuster between this and the new optimization of Eniluracil/5FU to make work what GSK failed at by improper relative dosing of the combo. check out my blog at http://mark-nano.blogspot.com/2006/02/article-on-genesis-of-adherex.html and more generally on cancer http://mark-nano.blogspot.com/2006/03/cbcs-chasing-cancer-answer-wendy.html

Date reviewed: Jun 5, 2006 9:37 PM

Nickname: An American Speaking The Truth

Review: Cancer is a big business. Shareholders don't ever want it to go away, that's why we will only see new treatment after new treatment flash in the news in our lifetime. Till someone focuses on the cure, then will it worthy of being called news.

Date reviewed: Jun 5, 2006 7:05 PM

Nickname: Peter

Review: The truth is that cancer is unbelievably hard to cure; these partial treatments are not a money-spinning exercise, but rather the results of the very best efforts by thousands of clinicians and researchers. Yes, it's strange to see this more discussed in the business pages than as a health issue, but it really is all about making the best treatment possible. The competition between Dasanib and Gleevec and Herceptin with Tykerb shows that companies can not afford to not put their best foot forward.

Date reviewed: Jun 5, 2006 5:56 PM