A Drug That Kills Most Cancers [Archive]

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Furtherman

01-18-2007, 07:46 AM

<h3 class="post-title">Cheap, Safe Drug Kills Most Cancers </h3><div class="post-body"><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10971-cheap-safe-drug-kills-most-cancers.html" target="_blank">It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their “immortality”. The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe.</a> Well let's get on it! I'm curious to see if this will show up in the national news. Because this is pretty big f'n news. The next step is to run clinical trials of DCA in people with cancer. These may have to be funded by charities, universities and governments: pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to pay because they can’t make money on unpatented medicines. The pay-off is that if DCA does work, it will be easy to manufacture and dirt cheap. Shocker. Hey, Bill Gates or some other billionaire who has too much money, little help?! </div>

cupcakelove

01-18-2007, 07:54 AM

I saw this article yesterday and was to disgusted to post it here.  I saw another article a month or two ago about how innovations in the pharmaceutical industry have dropped off in the last few decades because companies use their patents to stop other people from researching new meds, and do very little new research new ones themselves.  There's too much money in keeping the status quo.

foodcourtdruide

01-18-2007, 07:57 AM

Furtherman wrote: <h3 class="post-title">Cheap, Safe Drug Kills Most Cancers </h3>* class="post-body"> <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10971-cheap-safe-drug-kills-most-cancers.html" target="_blank">It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their “immortality”. The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe.</a> Well let's get on it! I'm curious to see if this will show up in the national news. Because this is pretty big f'n news. The next step is to run clinical trials of DCA in people with cancer. These may have to be funded by charities, universities and governments: pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to pay because they can’t make money on unpatented medicines. The pay-off is that if DCA does work, it will be easy to manufacture and dirt cheap. Shocker. Hey, Bill Gates or some other billionaire who has too much money, little help?! Maybe it's time that American's stopped believing big companies care about them or look at them as "family"?

angelinad128

01-18-2007, 08:14 AM

This could end the money making machine known as "finding" the cure.  Big drug companies will not want that to happen.

NewYorkDragons80

01-18-2007, 03:43 PM

angelinad128 wrote: This could end the money making machine known as "finding" the cure. Big drug companies will not want that to happen. I don't buy into the whole buried cancer-cure conspiracy.  If Pfizer had a cure for cancer, it would be enough to make every executive and shareholder rich enough to never have to worry about the future of the company.

boeman

01-18-2007, 03:57 PM

NewYorkDragons80 wrote: angelinad128 wrote: This could end the money making machine known as "finding" the cure. Big drug companies will not want that to happen.  I don't buy into the whole buried cancer-cure conspiracy.  If Pfizer had a cure for cancer, it would be enough to make every executive and shareholder rich enough to never have to worry about the future of the company.   Fundamentally, I'd like to agree with that... but isn't there a chance they had no idea... I'll also play devil's advocate here... Considering the amount of money the drug companies have sunk into cancer research, could it be possible they found a link, but didn't want to explore it further because they would be telling us to use a medicine that's available as a generic, which we can get for next to nothing compared to the name brands that are patented against generics... these companies are out there for a profit, not to give the profit to other companies.

phixion

01-18-2007, 04:07 PM

I don't buy into the whole buried cancer-cure conspiracy.  If Pfizer had a cure for cancer, it would be enough to make every executive and shareholder rich enough to never have to worry about the future of the company.    <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729_pf.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729_pf.html</a>

FezPaul

01-18-2007, 04:10 PM

too much moneyhttp://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f281/FezPaul/emoticons/smile.gif

lintpit

01-18-2007, 04:41 PM

Apill that kills cancer? If it is true RJReynolds Lorrilard and all the other cig manufacturers are sure to dump boatloads of $$$$$ into development and marketing.The downside [loosely used] for  this would be the loss of revenue to hospitals, dr's and related medical industries.THere would be a BIG positive. The glut of older people who would live to go into assisted care facilities would sure be an economic  boon.As well as Adult care products,vitamins, food supplements and the like.I hope it is real and true. No kid should have to die from cancer to line the pockets of anyone.

Bulldogcakes

01-19-2007, 03:32 PM

NewYorkDragons80 wrote: angelinad128 wrote: This could end the money making machine known as "finding" the cure. Big drug companies will not want that to happen. I don't buy into the whole buried cancer-cure conspiracy. If Pfizer had a cure for cancer, it would be enough to make every executive and shareholder rich enough to never have to worry about the future of the company. I agree. People seem to think that just because a few companies are large, they control the whole market like oligarchs and no one else is allowed to compete. Nowhere near being true. There are thousands of small biotech companies who would jump all over this if it was truly a "cure". And if there really is no money to be made (which I doubt) then universities would study this and eventually it would get produced by the companies that produce generic drugs. I suspect that finding a drug that kills cancer cells isn't that big of a deal. That cancer is more medically complex and they already have many drugs that kill cancer cells, yet somehow the disease still spreads.    

This message was edited by Bulldogcakes on 1-19-07 @ 7:45 PM

sailor

01-19-2007, 03:42 PM

lintpit wrote: Apill that kills cancer? If it is true RJReynolds Lorrilard and all the other cig manufacturers are sure to dump boatloads of $$$$$ into development and marketing.The downside [loosely used] for this would be the loss of revenue to hospitals, dr's and related medical industries.THere would be a BIG positive. The glut of older people who would live to go into assisted care facilities would sure be an economic boon.As well as Adult care products,vitamins, food supplements and the like.I hope it is real and true. No kid should have to die from cancer to line the pockets of anyone. damn good point that big-tobacco would be all over it.  fuck, i'd love to be able to smoke again without the fear of cancer!