Rick, some more on dentritic cell vaccine.
More competition for Techniclone. Next month, the Malaghan Institute here will begin
clinical trials for a Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma vaccine. The Sunday Star Times reported
Sunday:
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"First, Ronchese's team will take blood from ill people and, by manipulating it in a test
tube, boost its supply of dendritic cells, which work like vacuum cleaners in the body,
sucking up invader and keeping disease at bay. Second, they'll expose the dendritic cells
to non-Hodgkins Lymphoma tumour cells taken from the same person - so allowing the
dendritic cells to recognise the enemy and arm themselves for battle. Third, "buckets" of
the strengthened dendritic cells will be re-injected into their original patient where, it is
hoped, they'll recognise and suck up the tumour cells as they did in the mouse model
trial. Why choose Non-Hodgkins sufferers? Says Ronchese simply, "Because, for them,
there's nothing else".
In the world of science, where results are typically slow, Ronchese's work is moving at
breakneck speed. Despite the lack of finance, New Zealand is a cheap and fast place in
which to do biomedical research. And there are plenty of patients to work on. Cancer
kills a third of all New Zealanders.
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Franca Ronchese came from a research job in Basle, Switzerland four years ago with
her husband who is doing similar work at the Malaghan Institute related to asthma. The
Swiss connection again!
There are quite a few competitors for cancer cures in general and NHL in particular. It
would be a happy event if there were many cures and it became a matter of using the
cheapest or most tolerable for individual patients.
Antiangiogenesis, telomerase inhibition, dendritic cell vaccines, radioactive monoclonal
antibodies from IDEC, Coulter and Techniclone, TNT, CHOP and other ideas are all
on the hunt for the endangered species "NHL". Techniclone shareholders will have to
share the spoils of victory with others by the look of it.
Maurice |
