Scientists develop "tumor on a chip" for testing cancer drugs, AND CRISPR-Cas 9 screens lead to largest dataset of targets in cancers

[NPfisherman]

Scientists develop a "tumor on a chip" which is closest to being like a tumor in the body for testing efficacy of cancer drugs which may help determine drug efficacy for cancers faster, and could even be patient specific using tumor biopsies for growth and testing...

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

Recently, CRISPR Cas 9 datasets development provides the largest screen of cancer lines in 25 different cancers, and will provide more targets for drug development in cancers. The largest to date...The results of these experiments indicate which genes are the most likely to make viable drug targets.

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

The Science is Coming!!!....Hurry up for goodness sakes !!!

Don Pescado.

[cesces]

Thanks. Nice article.

[NPfisherman in reply to cesces]

Which one or both??... It is exciting watching the Science....and yet... no cure... but much closer to chronic disease state in PCa...within 3-5 years, we shall see several new drugs-- not targeting AR-- hit the market... That will make it much closer to chronic disease state...

Fish

[6357axbz in reply to NPfisherman]

What’s “AR”? Androgen receptors?

[NPfisherman in reply to 6357axbz]

Correct...what we have today is chemo, Provenge, and AR targeting drugs... and off the top of my head...that's it... Zytiga, the lutamides, ....There is the off label drugs like Fenben, Statins, etc... The use of the APCEDEN vaccine is encouraging and available also...

The drugs coming will focus on bromodomain targets, ACLY, and other areas... It will take it to another level...These will be add ons to our current attack strategies... 3 Drug Cocktail coming....There will also be 3rd generation AR drugs coming...Just gotta survive and wait...not easy for some of us, sadly...

I encourage people to look at ZEN 3694, CCS 1477, SM-88 to just name a few....Adding 2 of these to our current strategies will slow disease progression dramatically and add years... ALL---IMHO...

Fish

[6357axbz in reply to NPfisherman]

Good summary, thanks Fish.

[tom67inMA in reply to NPfisherman]

I've been reading "emperor of all maladies", and just got done with the part covering the war on cancer in the 70s. I instantly thought about things like genetic sequencing and CRISPR that weren't available back then, when they were just trying all sorts of chemicals to see what worked without really knowing why they worked. We have a much greater ability now to understand cancer and design targeted treatments versus the trial and error back then.

I see survival curves moving more and more to the right, more men living longer, and "fluke cures" becoming more common for those with exceptional responses to treatment.

BTW, there's two other attack vectors that I'm aware of: Radiopharmaceuticals like Xofigo and (eventually) Lu-177, and things like PARP inhibitors that may apply depending on genetic defects (though those might still be experimental).

[NPfisherman in reply to tom67inMA]

Sorry...was busy at work typing that reply too quickly....You are correct...IMHO, the radiopharmaceuticals are the better of the two for prostate cancer for the patient population...

Zen 3694 is a Bromodomain 4 inhibitor and is in clinical trials for prostate, TN breast, and NonSmall Cell Lung cancers...When given by an AI-Curate, it controlled MCRPC for over a year driving the PSA below 1 and keeping it there...

I agree... treatment is becoming more specific and less random and that is a good thing...we are getting closer...

Thanks for the reply...

Fish

[tom67inMA in reply to NPfisherman]

Your enthusiasm for coming treatments is infectious!

[NPfisherman in reply to tom67inMA]

Indeed, it pumps me up...some info on ZEN3694, Enzalutamide, and dosing done by an Artificial Intelligence--CURATE-AI in controlling MCRPC--NEVER using maximum doses and disease control verified by PSA and CT Scans...

technology.org/2018/10/18/r...

Allowing a patient to go back to leading a normal life ....what every one of us deserves...

Fish

[tom67inMA in reply to NPfisherman]

I like this, as I have complained to my MO that medications (specifically Xgeva) are applied "open loop" without any feedback as to how well they are accomplishing their goal (in this case, bone mineral density) with corresponding dosage adjustment.

Not sure I agree with "completely normal life", as it sounds like it relies on regular scans and blood tests. And since the cancer is held in a stable state instead of going for maximum remission, you'll probably still have whatever cancer symptoms you had. But it should cut way down on treatment induced side effects and medication costs.

[NPfisherman in reply to tom67inMA]

I guess what they meant by "normal life" was the patient was able to do things as previously...None of us PCa warriors have a really "normal" life... the prostate specific anxiety test, wondering when a medication might fail, wondering if a pain is a new met lesion, etc... Not normal by any stretch of the imagination...but we take our "victories" when we can and focus on living and our loved ones... that part is kind of normal...

Fish