Took My Bro' too....
... at the age of 31. He seems to be the subject of all of my QotW posts, but hey ho. It's been 3 years. I don't think I shall ever be the same.

However, we were told to say goodbye to my mother when she had metastatic bowel cancer 12 years ago and she currently plays vollyball twice a week aged 73. The drugs do work - sometimes. And they are getting better.

I was a chemist but now work in IP - I help some small pharma companies get patents for their products and those patents allow them to reach the market. Last week one client got a distribution license for something that will help stop those on chemo getting the severe mouth ulcers that can be so painful they have to be fed through a tube. It's not a wonder-drug, but if you need constant morphine for the pain of the side effects then these little things help.

*click*
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Mon 8 Mar 2010, 18:50, 1 reply)

Oh I agree,
The drugs definitely are getting better. For example, in China they have patented the world's first commercial gene therapy for cancer. They are using adenoviruses to target cells that specifically lack p53 to try and restore the gene function to allow apoptosis of the cancer cells, thereby destroying the tumour. And it is self limiting: the virus doesn't attack normal cells because they express transient levels of p53. Kinda neat really.

I mean it only works in specific forms, but it's pretty good!
(satanstolemyteddybear Mu hõljuk on angerjaid täis, Mon 8 Mar 2010, 19:22, closed)