You may recall the very promising form of cancer immune therapy pioneered by Zheng Cui that involves transplanting granulocytes from suitable donors - it performed very well indeed in mice, superbly in fact, but only the one anemic human trial is underway in the US. You might look back in the Fight Aging! archives for a report last year on where things were with this line of research:
You might recall that people were enthused a few years back over the work of researcher Zheng Cui, who showed that (a) one breed of lab mice shug off cancer because their immune cells are different in ways that enable them to kill cancer dead, (b) transplanting those immune cells into more vulnerable mice also kills cancer dead, and (c) this same state of affairs exists in humans. Somewhere, someone has an immune system that can kill your cancer. If you could find them and undergo a transplant of leukocyte or granulocyte immune cells, the evidence to date suggests that this would be a very effective therapy.
Unfortunately, one anemic trial and a little additional research is where things still stand, more or less. This is a funding and culture of medical development issue: it's not yet completely understood how the therapy works at the biochemical level, and the prevalent incentives are for research groups to strive to fully understand a mechanism so that they can apply for patents, develop drugs that manipulate those mechanisms, and so forth and so on. Fortunately, if work is well publicized and the scientific papers openly published, clinics and medical developers worldwide can get into the game - and not all of them have the same incentives as US-based scientists and other cancer research concerns.
So I see that there is a clinic in Mexico called NCIM that is now offering granulocyte infusion treatment, for example:
Earlier this year we at NCIM approached biomedical theoretician Dr. Anthony G. Payne and asked him for any ideas or suggestions he might have for bettering the lot of a middle-aged male end stage prostate cancer patient. As he had exhausted whatever conventional approaches were available for his particular malignancy this was time for heroic measures. With Dr. Cui's pioneering work in mind Dr. Payne then set to work to develop an experimental protocol that would combine the use of mismatched donor granulocytes from healthy young people with HLA mismatched umbilical cord stem cells from healthy newborns.
Caveat emptor and all that - this looks a great deal more ad-hoc than the Florida clinical trial setup, for example - but this sort of spread in the application of a well-publicized and openly published technique is exactly what I'd like to see happen for the range of nascent biotechnologies in longevity science. When I talk about Open Cures as a long term project for speeding up medical development and implementation, I am talking about helping to make the very early stage biotechnologies for repairing or slowing age-related biotechnology accessible and renowned, just as Zheng Cui's work and its scientific foundations have become. This accessibility helps to spur entrepreneurs, development groups, and clinicians to do what NCIM has done here - pick up where US-based organizations are slacking due to obstructive regulation or a culture of development that rejects implementation of working-but-not-yet-fully-understood therapies. It doesn't matter that the first wave of implementations are likely to include incomplete or incorrect projects - once things get underway in earnest these will be weeded out or improved.
The clinics that service the medical tourism industry are the natural starting point for this sort of spread of practice, but from their experience technologies will spread out into the region's medical and research establishment. This is ever a painfully slow process, but it is much, much faster than the alternative in which it never happens because too few people know of or understand the prospective biotechnology in question. People are only trying to implement granulocyte therapies because there have been years of advocacy and discussion - absent that, I'd wager this would another largely vanished line of research for now.
Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm
- Vitamin K Delivers Kick to Cancer Risk [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 7th, 2010]
- Magnesium for Memory [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 7th, 2010]
- The Long Road Towards Prosthetic Nerves [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- More on DAF-16 and Longevity in Nematodes [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- Rapamycin and Alzheimer's Disease [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- Rapamycin and Alzheimer's Disease [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- Better Understanding Cytomegalovirus [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- On Mitophagy and Aging [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- A Trial of Giving Stem Cells Orders [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- Methuselah Foundation Launches NewOrgan Prize [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- The Contributions of Mitochondria to Longevity [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- Dual Action Antibodies Versus Cancer [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- Longevity and the End of Empire [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2010]
- The Long Road Towards Prosthetic Nerves [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- More on DAF-16 and Longevity in Nematodes [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- Rapamycin and Alzheimer’s Disease [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- Better Understanding Cytomegalovirus [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- On Mitophagy and Aging [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- A Trial of Giving Stem Cells Orders [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- Methuselah Foundation Launches NewOrgan Prize [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- The Contributions of Mitochondria to Longevity [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- Dual Action Antibodies Versus Cancer [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- Longevity and the End of Empire [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- Longevity Meme Newsletter, April 12 2010 [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 12th, 2010]
- Printing New Tissue Directly Onto the Body [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 12th, 2010]
- Reprogramming Autoimmune Disease [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 12th, 2010]
- Diet and Exercise Can Override the Genetic Disposition towards Obesity [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 12th, 2010]
- Your Heart Truly Loves Chocolate! [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 12th, 2010]
- CSC news roundup 2010-04-11 [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 13th, 2010]
- Longevity Meme Newsletter, April 12 2010 [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 13th, 2010]
- Printing New Tissue Directly Onto the Body [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 13th, 2010]
- Reprogramming Autoimmune Disease [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 13th, 2010]
- Diet and Exercise Can Override the Genetic Disposition towards Obesity [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 13th, 2010]
- Your Heart Truly Loves Chocolate! [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 13th, 2010]
- Trialing Stem Cells to Heal Heart Damage [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 13th, 2010]
- Selection Effects and Longevity Genes [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 13th, 2010]
- How Exercise Can Awaken Your Creative Genius Within [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 13th, 2010]
- Trialing Stem Cells to Heal Heart Damage [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2010]
- Selection Effects and Longevity Genes [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2010]
- How Exercise Can Awaken Your Creative Genius Within [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2010]
- WILT, ALT, and Zscan4 [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2010]
- Damage in Early Life Shortens Life Expectancy [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2010]
- WILT, ALT, and Zscan4 [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2010]
- Damage in Early Life Shortens Life Expectancy [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2010]
- Synthetic Biology and the Extracellular Matrix [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2010]
- The Tithonus Error as Prospection Error [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2010]
- F.D.A. Says Millions Got Unapproved Drugs, Should the new bioequivalence and bioanalytical guidelines for 2010, be made more stringent [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2010]
- Synthetic Biology and the Extracellular Matrix [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2010]
- The Tithonus Error as Prospection Error [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2010]
- Towards an Artificial Pancreas [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2010]
- Immortality Isn't Unethical [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2010]
- Immortality Isn't Unethical [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2010]
- Alcohol in Adolescence: A Cancerous Combination? [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2010]
- Green Tea for Weight Loss [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2010]
- Towards an Artificial Pancreas [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2010]
- Immortality Isn’t Unethical [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2010]
- Alcohol in Adolescence: A Cancerous Combination? [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2010]
- Green Tea for Weight Loss [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2010]
- On Calorie Restriction Research [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2010]
- AGE Precursor Methylglyoxal Also an Issue? [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2010]
- On Calorie Restriction Research [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 18th, 2010]
- AGE Precursor Methylglyoxal Also an Issue? [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 18th, 2010]
- Longevity Meme Newsletter, April 19 2010 [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 19th, 2010]
- Let Them Eat Wheat [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 19th, 2010]
- An Appetite for Alzheimer’s Avoidance [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 19th, 2010]
- Steps Towards Controlling Regeneration [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2010]
- Another View of What to Do About Aging [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 20th, 2010]
- Rare flowers and common herbal supplements get unmasked with plant DNA barcoding [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2010]
- Steps Towards Controlling Regeneration [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2010]
- Another View of What to Do About Aging [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2010]
- Stopping Metastasis [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2010]
- Humanity+ Summit at Harvard [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2010]
- Stopping Metastasis [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 22nd, 2010]
- Humanity+ Summit at Harvard [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 22nd, 2010]
- An Update on Scent and Longevity [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 22nd, 2010]
- Tissue Engineered Skin Progresses [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 22nd, 2010]
- Because Someone Has to State the Obvious [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 23rd, 2010]
- Deciphering Regeneration [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 23rd, 2010]
- Politics and Historical Aspirations to Engineered Longevity [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 24th, 2010]
- Exercise and Alzheimer's Disease [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2024] [Originally Added On: April 24th, 2010]