New Approach to Resistance

[Best521]

A male neurobiologist, with metastatic breast cancer who studies genetics, developed a new idea to deal with treatment resistance based on the same way Farmers protect their fields from pests. Farmers rotate the pesticide chemicals they use on their fields so that they are never chronically spraying until everybody develops resistance. A trial using this novel approach will begin later this year at the Moffitt Cancer Center.

Loved the reminder that men get breast cancer. Also loved that it is a male metastatic breast cancer patient who developed the idea with other scientists and is leading the effort.

wfmz.com/health/health-beat...

[Pbsoup]

I am glad they're studying this. I always wondered if this would work. It makes sense intellectually. I suppose part of what they need to understand is sequencing.

[Best521]

Agree it really does make sense and it is such a simple and elegant idea. I plan to show this to my oncologist. Sequencing with ADCs is something he and his team are studying now. He is a scientist who is either overseeing or on top of all the trials. Would love to hear his thoughts.

[bikebabe]

the logic of it makes sense ie in outwitting the cancer cells so they don’t know what to expect. Cancer cells behave Like data thieves trying to crack/ get around security firewall systems.

[Best521 in reply to bikebabe]

Agree such a good analogy comparing the approach to data thieves trying to crack the codes. Leave it to a metastatic breast cancer patient to have come up with this idea. I hope he is successful.

[Andersl]

Such a sensible idea

[Tanyateresa]

Very interesting. Will comment it to my oncologist too

[mariootsi]

Wonderful to hear about this development from someone with mbc.

[13plus]

wow, so he has already been doing this for 6 years without progression! Thats impressive, taken 11 drugs so far. I guess 2 possible downsides to this approach is if you take a drug early in the protocol that happens to be useless for you, you could potentially progress fast (vs staying on the 1 st drug longer) or that you run more risk of having a bad side effect simply because you are sampling many more drugs

[Best521 in reply to 13plus]

Yes it is amazing that he has been using this approach on himself for six years. I wonder what the trial will show as regards progression and side effects given how we all respond differently to treatments and have different types of breast cancer. Also some of us have fast moving aggressive disease and others have indolent or slow moving cancers. I would be willing to try the trial if they were scanning every 8 to 9 weeks and could respond rapidly to progression. It would require very close management. However I like that he is challenging the current assumptions about treatment and hope this can work.