What is accepted as "proven" scientific fact in medicine today has often been proven to be wrong tomorrow. –

[George71]

Just when we knew we had it all figured out ....

Take for example the newest 2018 Nobel Prize winner in medicine, Jim Allison.

"But despite the mounting mockery of the larger scientific community and dwindling research funds, a handful of immunotherapy researchers continued to believe—and continued searching, decade after decade, for the missing piece of the cancer immunity puzzle, a factor that prevented the immune system from recognizing and attacking cancer cells."

“New” aspects of the immune system, like the hunter-killer T-cells, were barely on the radar yet (Allison’ s college professor thought they were “too weird” evolutionarily to really exist).

“I'd go and Xerox big stacks of shit and then read it,” he says. He was looking to better understand the T cell receptor. But what Allison was reading in the academic journals didn’t really make sense to him.

“Yeah, when that happens, the fact that it doesn't make sense is either their fault or your fault,” Allison laughs. Naturally, his first assumption was that it was his fault. “I'd think, ‘I'm an idiot. I can't understand this.’” Allison says. “Then, I thought, ‘No, they're idiots. They don't understand what they're talking about!’” Then he’d drive back out to the library and copy another stack.

All the reading and wondering came together one night while Allison was in Houston sitting in on a lecture by a visiting Ivy League immune researcher. Something just clicked. “I said, 'I think I know a shortcut to finding the T-Cell receptor. Suddenly it seemed so obvious: ...."

wired.com/story/meet-jim-al...

[Tall_Allen]

Shows the importance of rigorous benchwork. HIV vastly expanded our understanding of immune system function. I would argue that real proof has never been overturned - only assumptions and half-cocked studies have been.

[fritz1]

Thanks for posting this article.

[Grumpyswife]

Nice article. Thanks for sharing.

[cesanon]

I took an anatomy and physiology course at the local community college. They used a standard and we'll regarded textbook.

I took a lot of time studying the very detailed chapter on the immune system. It became clear to me that the author had knitted together content from multiple sources with different writing styles, and with subtle conflicts among the different contributions.

They have a large nursing program and therefore have a senior anatomy and physiology instructor. I had a sit down with him. And he confirmed my analysis was correct. And that no one yet truly understands fully how the immune system works. Only parts of it, and only even then it is an incomplete understanding.

[cesanon]

George, the wired article was such a great article. Thanks for posting the link.

[George71]

They are figuring it out -- the process is rapidly accelerating by the sharing of knowledge across cancer lines. From what I have been reading they have just began combining immunotheropy drugs with other treatments to unmask the cancer cells to the immune system and effect cures. It is an exciting time. Immunotheropy is going to do it. We just need to hang on a few more years.

[j-o-h-n]

to George71:

Here I go again as I've posted before .... Besides my Pca I also have stage IV lung melanoma. It is presently being treated at Sloan Kettering with the Immunotherapy drug Keytruda, and it's working.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 10/29/2018 10:15 PM EDT

[George71 in reply to j-o-h-n]

That is really great news and encouraging