Medical Marijuana, Pharmaceutical Toxicity, HER2+ BC, BC Risks, and Coronavirus
9th Issue
Contents
- A Common Plant Virus Is an Unlikely Ally in the War on Cancer
- Docs Develop Clinical Guides for Medical Cannabis
- Partnership for Cannabinoid Drug Development and Cancer Clinical Trials
- Study Finds Cancer Center’s Patient and Staff Bathrooms Contaminated by Chemo Agents
- A diabetes drug has been recalled because it contains high levels of cancer-causing agent
- Skip Chemo for Older Patients With HER2+ Breast Cancer?
- Practicing Oncologists Debate New Tactics for Brain Metastases in HER2+ Breast Cancer
- Alcohol Consumption by Beverage Type and Risk of Breast Cancer
- Helsinki Airport Employs Dogs to Sniff Out Signs of Covid-19 in Travelers’ Sweat
New treatment developments
• A Common Plant Virus Is an Unlikely Ally in the War on Cancer
“Researchers have seen promising results by injecting dog and mouse tumors with the cowpea mosaic virus. Now they’re aiming for a human trial. If a treatment works in dog cancer, it has a very good chance of working, at some level, in human patients”
My two cents: I love it when things in nature have anti-cancer properties. Okay, it works in dogs and mice, but still exciting.
Medical Marijuana
• Docs Develop Clinical Guides for Medical Marijuana
“Two physicians published a book, Medical Marijuana: A Clinical Handbook, aimed at helping colleagues treat patients. And a pain medicine specialist published a similar book, Cannabis in Medicine, An Evidence-Based Approach.”
My two cents: Exciting progress towards the acceptance of medical marijuana by the scientific and western medicine establishments.
• Partnership for Cannabinoid Drug Development and Cancer Clinical Trials
“Pascal and SōRSE will share their respective technologies to test the cannabinoid PAS-393 in human volunteers, enabling testing of cancer patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors.”
My two cents: Exciting stuff happening now with these two companies. My hope is that this partnership signifies that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Kinda like the Entourage Effect. Pascal is also conducting clinical trials on cannabinoids and glioblastoma and cannabinoids and Covid-19. Marijuana and medicinal mushrooms will save the world, mark my words.
Pharmaceutical Toxicity
• Study Finds Cancer Center’s Patient and Staff Bathrooms Contaminated by Chemo Agents
“Researchers tested the bathrooms by wiping the surfaces and then analyzing the swabs for chemotherapy contamination. There was measurable contamination in the patient bathrooms every day of testing. One day had a major spike in hazardous drugs found.”
My two cents: As I cover in my protocol book, What I Did and Do and Why, the toxicity of chemotherapy and radiation extends far beyond the patient who receives it. From poisoning fish and other wildlife and our waterways to posing danger to morticians. I personally think this is the tip of the iceberg. We will soon discover a massive scale on which these toxins are posing a danger to humans, wildlife, and the environment.
• A diabetes drug has been recalled because it contains high levels of cancer-causing agent
“Marksans Pharma Limited and seven other pharmaceutical companies are recalling Metformin extended-release tablets because their levels of NDMA, a “probable human carcinogen,” were higher than the acceptable daily intake limit.”
My two cents: I think we will eventually find out that all synthetic pharmaceuticals are carcinogenic at some point. We didn’t evolve/weren’t designed to process them. If you take Metformin, please see if you have any of the recalled batches.
HER2+ breast cancer
• Skip Chemo for Older Patients With HER2+ Breast Cancer?
“Single-agent trastuzumab resulted in a 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) of 89.5% versus 93.8% with the addition of chemotherapy.“
My two cents: The results of this study show that Herceptin alone is nearly as effective as Herceptin plus chemo in older patients. Given the potentially lethal toxicity of chemo, I’m wondering what the results are for younger patients. Why have chemo if it doesn’t confer significant advantage?
• Practicing Oncologists Debate New Tactics for Brain Metastases in HER2+ Breast Cancer
“3 (recent) FDA approvals: tucatinib, added to trastuzumab and capecitabine; trastuzumab deruxtecan; and neratinib plus capecitabine.”
My two cents: There’s nothing new here and I’ve included these studies and drugs before but this is a nice overview and I know from experience that when you’ve been diagnosed with brain mets, you are hungry for hope and information.
Breast Cancer Risks
• Alcohol Consumption by Beverage Type and Risk of Breast Cancer
“This “meta-analysis aims to provide a dose-response estimation between different alcohols and breast cancer risk. The effect of drinking on the incidence of breast cancer is mainly manifested in ER+ breast cancer. Total drinking had a significant risk for breast cancer, especially for postmenopausal women. For different alcohols, just wine intake has the similar results.”
My two cents: Bummer, but good to know.
Coronavirus
• Helsinki Airport Employs Dogs to Sniff Out Signs of Covid-19 in Travelers’ Sweat
“Each passenger is invited into a private room where they use a wipe to dab their travel-sweaty selves, and then drop the wipe in a metal canister. During preliminary tests, dogs were able to detect the coronavirus in a sample with almost 100 percent certainty.”
My two cents: OK, this isn’t cancer-related, but I included it because, if true, it’s so darn cool. And dogs HAVE been trained to detect cancer. Gotta say though, what makes me skeptical is that the dog gets a treat when they signal an infection, before it is confirmed for accuracy. Given dogs’ obsessions with treats, I would be worried about setting them up for false positives. LOL
Cancer in the News has a posting frequency of once every two weeks, usually on Wednesday.