I got a note asking what a MAb trial was--
the point I wanted to ask was this, and then
I'll need some help from the biotech guys:
Biotech is often about deleting or adding a
protein...or in gene therapy, going right to
the gene responsible for that protein. So I
wanted to point out that certainly there have
been violent immune responses to other types
of therapy--MAb's, monoclonal antibodies, the
so called magic bullets we are always hearing
about--these would be the sort of thing that
has probably killed some patients in early
trials from severe immune response, right?
I don't want to sound like I am diminishing the
importance of this fellow's death, it must have
been a terrible day for everybody involved, I
even started to cry when I read the article at
the Washington Post. However, I would imagine
with experimental therapies there are often
surprise deaths like this one. How often does
a cancer patient die from the therapy before the
cancer actually kills him, it must happen fairly
often.
The CEGE thread is fairily active, I'll see what
the reaction is over there--seems like for every
couple steps forward with Gene Therapy, there is
a step back...this must have been an incredible
disappointment for the scientists at Upenn. |
