Talking with Ben

On Jan 22, 11:57�am, "Tom K" wrote:

You should stay in touch with the people who did the clinical study... if
your stuff ever came back, the marketing company may be under obligation to
give you the same drug for free. �Or they may do it voluntarily.

--Tom

They continue to follow my progress/status, with my permission.
Formally, I was still part of the program for the year following the
completion of the actual treatments. Naturally, they want to keep
track of me to see for how long the benefits, if any, continue to
work.

I'm not sure I'd be eligible for futher treatments since nothing yet
has been approved by the FDA. The U of V does continue to perform
studies futher delineating the drug provided me. For those I may or
may not be eligible in the future. I'd prefer not to find out!

On 1/21/2009 9:59 PM PARNAMI scrawled with a big red tube of lipstick:
On Jan 21, 9:22�am, Susette wrote:

On Jan 20, 10:16 pm, PARNAMI wrote:


Hi Ben! It's good to see you're still alive and ticking! I've been
curious about your whereabouts, naturally, thinking the worst. Glad I
was wrong!!

Stay well!!

Mel

WOW Mel �have not seen you on here in a coons age!
Where have you been hiding? �Ben is alive and Kicking we going to do
dinner...

Susette
Cruise Outlets and Travelwww.cruiseoutlets.com
856-853-9515


LOL....coons age?
I've been here, reading, just about every night. I've just had
nothing to say.

In light of the poor treatment by airlines toward customers in recent
years, pretty much, we've given up flying, meaning, in essence,
cruising as well. If and when the airlines return to respecting
their customers, we MAY begin traveling again, but, I'm not holding my
breath.

In the meantime, I'm spending my money with companies who actually
APPRECIATE my business. OR, at least put up a good show of doing so.

In other matters, three and a half years ago, I DID manage to come
down with a small case of stage 4 metastasized melanoma of the lung.
The lung was removed, I participated in a clinical trial of a vaccine,
and, am happy to report, as of two days before Christmas, I remain
CANCER FREE! So, no problems here!!

I DO still have air miles with USAir..so I think I HAVE to check out a
couple weeks on the Oasis..eventually. In all likelihood,that will be
my last cruise/flight.

So, as I said, not much about which to post. Is IS good, however, to
contiune to see familar faces on the RTC.

Hey guy,

I may not have had the opportunity to sail with you.. Cancer Free that's
awesome! I will say a special prayer to San Francisco die Assis. He's my
best bud Saint along with Saint Tony. Thank your lucky stars that it
wasn't squamous cell.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"The poor dog is the firmest friend, the first to welcome the foremost to defend" - Lord Byron
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

On 1/22/2009 1:28 AM Tom K scrawled with a big red tube of lipstick:
"PARNAMI" wrote in message
...
On Jan 21, 11:04?pm, "Tom K" wrote:

Glad to hear that. ?What was the drug? ?Do you remember?

--Tom


I'm not sure it has a name..yet..but here's the link:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/sho...118274?order=1

Thanks for the good thoughts. I'm really fine, show no ill effects,
and do everything I did before...except without the coughing!!
After a year on the vaccine, I now take no meds at all. I don't have
a single brown bottle in the med cabinet....and have no need for
o2.

I really am "one lucky dude"!!! My timing, for once, just happend to
be just right!!



They don't give much info on the webpage... I was curious because I worked
on a new biologic melanoma drug called ipilimumab for a while. Was
wondering if that might have been the drug, but it's impossible to tell from
what the webpage has. Cyclophophamide is an old drug. It's the peptide
vaccine that I was curious about.


With the new biologic products coming out, the whole world of drugs is
changing leaps and bounds. Biologics are extremely difficult to make, and
extremely expensive (some cost as much as $1000 just to make a single dose).
But many of them work incredibly well, especially for things like cancer,
rheumatoid arthritis, organ transplant rejection, lupus, etc.. Many of them
are actually made from Chinese Hamster Ovary cells (CHO cells). It's a
process almost like making beer in a big tank, only it uses the ovary cells
(which multiply in the tank) instead of yeast. If you put the right
materials into the tank the cells convert the materials into the biologic
compound. It's a whole new world.

--Tom



Curious, why Chinese Hamsters? Why not American Hamsters? Do Chinese
Hamsters have something going for them? I can't resist asking, is this
just another case of Hamster Ovary outsourcing? But seriously, why
Chinese Hamsters?

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"The poor dog is the firmest friend, the first to welcome the foremost to defend" - Lord Byron
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

"Brian K" wrote in message
m...


Curious, why Chinese Hamsters? Why not American Hamsters? Do Chinese
Hamsters have something going for them? I can't resist asking, is this
just another case of Hamster Ovary outsourcing? But seriously, why Chinese
Hamsters?


Lot's of detail he

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_hamster_ovary_cell

"PARNAMI" wrote in message
...

In other matters, three and a half years ago, I DID manage to come
down with a small case of stage 4 metastasized melanoma of the lung.
The lung was removed, I participated in a clinical trial of a vaccine,
and, am happy to report, as of two days before Christmas, I remain
CANCER FREE! So, no problems here!!

Great news, Parnami ! Good to see you posting here again.

--Jean

On 1/28/2009 11:11 AM Tom K scrawled with a big red tube of lipstick:
"Brian K" wrote in message
m...


Curious, why Chinese Hamsters? Why not American Hamsters? Do Chinese
Hamsters have something going for them? I can't resist asking, is this
just another case of Hamster Ovary outsourcing? But seriously, why Chinese
Hamsters?



Lot's of detail he

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_hamster_ovary_cell



Very interesting but it isn't clear as to why Chinese Hamsters and not
some other Hamster. Are there any biologists, or medical researchers
lurking who could answer my question b/c?

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"The poor dog is the firmest friend, the first to welcome the foremost to defend" - Lord Byron
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

Brian K wrote:

On 1/28/2009 11:11 AM Tom K scrawled with a big red tube of lipstick:
"Brian K" wrote in message
m...


Curious, why Chinese Hamsters? Why not American Hamsters? Do Chinese
Hamsters have something going for them? I can't resist asking, is this
just another case of Hamster Ovary outsourcing? But seriously, why Chinese
Hamsters?

Lot's of detail he

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_hamster_ovary_cell

Very interesting but it isn't clear as to why Chinese Hamsters and not
some other Hamster. Are there any biologists, or medical researchers
lurking who could answer my question b/c?

The animal used has to have identical genetics as far as possible and
need to be inbred for many generations to insure that. Chinese
Hamsters appear to be the ones whose ovary cells were used first. They
were introduced in the 1960s and are used in a cultured monolayer in
culture flasks, but these type cells were first used back in 1919.

Hamsters are used because they are so disease-free and breed so
rapidly (they can have a new litter every month!) and because they are
so friendly and easy to handle, they are a popular choice among
scientists. They also have fewer chromosomes than some other species.
They are often used for cardio-vascular research, as their
cardio-vascular system is remarkably similar to that of the human.

On 1/31/2009 12:05 PM Rosalie B. scrawled with a big red tube of lipstick:
Brian K wrote:


On 1/28/2009 11:11 AM Tom K scrawled with a big red tube of lipstick:

"Brian K" wrote in message
m...




Curious, why Chinese Hamsters? Why not American Hamsters? Do Chinese
Hamsters have something going for them? I can't resist asking, is this
just another case of Hamster Ovary outsourcing? But seriously, why Chinese
Hamsters?


Lot's of detail he

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_hamster_ovary_cell


Very interesting but it isn't clear as to why Chinese Hamsters and not
some other Hamster. Are there any biologists, or medical researchers
lurking who could answer my question b/c?


The animal used has to have identical genetics as far as possible and
need to be inbred for many generations to insure that. Chinese
Hamsters appear to be the ones whose ovary cells were used first. They
were introduced in the 1960s and are used in a cultured monolayer in
culture flasks, but these type cells were first used back in 1919.

Hamsters are used because they are so disease-free and breed so
rapidly (they can have a new litter every month!) and because they are
so friendly and easy to handle, they are a popular choice among
scientists. They also have fewer chromosomes than some other species.
They are often used for cardio-vascular research, as their
cardio-vascular system is remarkably similar to that of the human.


Thanks Rosalie. I hope that they use tiny tiny instruments to extract
the eggs. Too many animals get killed in the name of science. That's
just my opinion. It's one of the reasons I tell my women friends about
Aveda Cosmetics and Bath and Massage stuff. Aveda conducts no product
experiments on animals. The bunny rabbits must be really happy about
that. At Aveda nobody is going to stick eyeshadow in their eyes. Pigs
won't have to wear skin clarifying cream and have lipstick put on their
lips. It's good to know that at least one cosmetic line has the little
and big critters in mind.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"The poor dog is the firmest friend, the first to welcome the foremost to defend" - Lord Byron
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

"Brian K" wrote in message
m...
Thanks Rosalie. I hope that they use tiny tiny instruments to extract the
eggs. Too many animals get killed in the name of science.

The cells aren't surgically extracted from an animal. They are a cell line,
a cell culture. They grow in a large stainless steel vessel like yeast
cells do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_line
Cell culture is the process by which prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells are
grown under controlled conditions. In practice the term "cell culture" has
come to refer to the culturing of cells derived from multicellular
eukaryotes, especially animal cells.
Animal cell culture became a common laboratory technique in the mid-1900's,
but the concept of maintaining live cell lines separated from their original
tissue source was discovered in the 19th century.
An established snip cell line has acquired the ability to proliferate
indefinitely either through random mutation or deliberate modification, such
as artificial expression of the telomerase gene. There are numerous well
established cell lines representative of particular cell types.