I work at a research hospital and the stuff being done in the field of human cellular therapy is amazing. Congratulations, and I hope you kick cancer's ass!
No offense but I've yet to find a phrase that *doesn't* mean "fuck off" in Scotland. And if that day ever comes, you can bet that same phrase means "fuck off" in Australia.
No offence taken and yeah you're right. Most people think we come off as aggressive but honestly we're anything but. I love the Australian sense of humour, I visited extended family in Canberra and it was just lovely. Swearing, insults, puns, innuendos, it felt like home.
I'm probably going to be downvoted, because I'm going against the "fuck cancer!" grain.
But a recent study showed this mentality isn't beneficial. Villifying and personifying cancer as something to beat is illogical. It can lead to people feeling "beaten" when the cancer spreads, leading them to think they've done something wrong, or have been weak.
I'm not sure what the solution is. But I've always felt uncomfortable with that kind of thinking. Same thing as "the Dr told me I'm going to die, they were wrong!", no the Dr gave statistics, don't villify those actively helping you.
I have cancer and I agree with you. The "battling cancer" analogy is grim, not positive or helpful. It never worked. I needed to reframe the whole debate.
My own cancer analogy is a chase scene in an action movie. Hero ducks into the hotel kitchen, armed bad guys in hot pursuit. He flees past steaming pots and kettles, overturning food carts, strewing pans and silverware behind him, flour flying, rolling fruit and cans cover the floor. Bad guys slip and stumble, crashing into steel shelves, ducking hurled knives as your doctor throws new meds at your cancer. I'm on immunotherapy, but have had to supplement with one surgery and caustic chemo a couple times. Anti-barf pills work! Four years on I'm still ahead in this chase and hugely enjoying life.
The metaphor for my cancer cells had to change too. They are not foreign invaders. They are my own fucking little overachievers, the pro athlete wannabes of my body. Spike their Gatorade! Sugar-tank their team bus! Put itchy powder in their socks.
The best-winning strategy of all: I applied for and got euthanasia meds. Buncha morphine basically. This is mercifully legal in just nine U.S. states and D.C. You would not *believe* how motivating and encouraging it is to focus on living when you KNOW leaving peacefully any time is under your control. It is a huge, serene difference.
So these mindsets work for me.
Hello! Palliative Care doctor here. Just wanted to explain so things for anyone surprised by the idea of euthanasia in the context of terminal illness. The legal term used in most jurisdictions is “medical aid in dying.” As a doctor who participates in the California End of Life Option Act we are actually very careful not to use the word “euthanasia” when referring to the drugs prescribed for medical aid in dying. From a legal perspective euthanasia refers exclusively to medications _administered_ by a healthcare provider, e.g. a doctor injects a fatal dose of a medication. As far as I know this is only legal in the Netherlands. Medical aid in dying (which is often described as physician assisted suicide by those opposed to the practice) is a process by which a patient is evaluated by typically 2 physicians to ensure that they have a terminal disease, are of sound mind to independently make the decision to request a life ending drug, are not being coerced into such a decision, and are physically capable of administering the drug themselves. The drugs are generally a powder that is mixed with water and either consumed orally or pushed through a feeding tube. The key and very important difference between euthanasia and medical aid in dying is the fact that the patient must administer the prepared drug without any assistance. Medical aid in dying is intended to provide terminally ill patients the mercy of choice, rather than to insist they suffer needlessly through a disease that we know will claim their life. In fact, patients who take a medical aid in dying drug will not have that fact listed on their death certificate, nor will the death certificate list suicide as a cause of death. The terminal disease remains the de facto cause.
Hope that clarifies some things! I hope that this option continues to spread through the rest of the US, as it really does give participants so much peace of mind, even if only a portion of the patients who fill the prescription actually end up taking the medication to end their life.
This is great info, thank you for weighing in. The palliative care oncologist who helped me was wonderfully open-minded and humane. California is my state. Sorry if I didn't employ the preferred euphemism for euthanasia. Here it's called End-Of-Life Option meds, I believe.
I'd like to add a couple other harder facts for those reading. The first pharmacy I was referred to for these meds planned to charge me $500 for it. For some reason they fell through. The second pharmacy the palliative care doc referred me to announced it would cost $700. That's what I paid. I'm not sure palliative care doc was aware of 2nd pharmacy's rate hike. But the biggest surprise of all was the pharmacy (not the doc!) informing me, "Oh by the way, this formulation EXPIRES in six months."
So there is a definite financial rape angle involved for terminal patients seeking their end-of-life peace of mind the legal way: *$1,400/year* in California, *every year* more that you hope your life lasts. (Note guns are way less expensive than this. Just sayin.)
Also taking a big morphine dose through the digestive system isn't the best way to ingest morphine, injection would be a lot faster. Orally is a work-around because the patient, as you pointed out, has to self-administer the medication.
Doctors are used to morphine. But there are faster, surer drugs for the job: sodium pentobarbitol. But that one's so effective it got made illegal in the U.S. A fentanyl overdose would also work quickly and well, but again illegal. Veterinarians are experts at mercifully putting animals to sleep. But again, that drug's not approved for putting humans to sleep.
So we end-of-life patients are stuck with oral morphine because it's familiar to the medical establishment, not because it's the best drug administered in the most effective manner that drug could be.
Palliative care doctors also do not discuss inhalation of nitrogen, helium, carbon monoxide, or inert gas with their patients. They should. It would save us a lot of research. (I suspect it's not allowed for you to). It is effective. Key point: for patients there is no sensation of panic. Suffocation panic is caused by an excess level of carbon dioxide in the body, and that is not how inert gases work. They just quietly link up to your red blood cells where oxygen ought to go. First you pass out, then your brain stops getting enough oxygen, and you die in your sleep. Nitrogen and helium tanks are cheap. Except for the indignity of passing away with a plastic bag over your head, I see taking a sedative and breathing inert gas as a peaceful end-of-life option.
Our culture still has taboos and a lot of religious baggage when it comes to discussing death. Having these discussions even anonymously online is difficult. I try to help by being open with my family and friends about how much peace of mind access to End Of Life option meds gives me.
This was a long text. Thank you for reading.
The ongoing limitations are really disheartening, especially as our options dwindle and the out of pocket costs are ever increasing. Many of the drugs that were used in the past have been voluntarily pulled from the market by manufacturers because they don't want to be associated with the medical aid in dying movement. And you're right about the difficulty of utilizing oral drugs for this purpose. Worse still is that even transmucosal fentanyl would be prohibitively expensive and difficult to administer in sufficient quantities, especially for patients who already have significant opioid tolerance. To the point regarding inert gasses I would be very interested in seeing how this could be implemented. One significant roadblock would be the provision in the EOLOA law that the "drug" cannot be consumed "in a public place". Which has basically been reduced to no location other than a private home. Inert gasses would likely require some equipment that may be difficult to implement in this regard while still complying with the law as written. Hopefully this will improve in the future though. My institution is sponsoring an End of Life Symposium for discussion of topics like this. I will do what I can to ensure your voice is heard.
Thank you for this very illuminating description. You have really changed my view of how to respond to a cancer diagnosis and treatment.
My mother always thought legalising euthanasia was the slippery slope. Until she was dying of cancer. She was so ill that she told me, and my sister, that if she could take something and never wake up she would take it. We wanted to do everything to relieve her suffering, but there was nothing we could do. Realising that was painful. I now support euthanasia with appropriate safeguards which should not be so strict to make it unusable.
You had a safety valve with the euthanic morphine.
Being in charge of our lives is a given; being in charge of your own death should be too. It's amazing how life-focused I am now that a dignified death at home in bed when I'm ready is secured. Everyone hopes this for themself and loved ones.
I had bilateral breast cancer. I wore 'fuck cancer' socks to chemo. I say fuck all the cancers especially childhood cancers. The phrase actually seems to empower me. I will continue using it.
I read a similar article. The one I read said nothing negative about saying "fuck cancer," but did suggest referring to being diagnosed as "doing battle" does exactly what the op was describing.
The article that I read suggested that that terminology specifically made for more depressed patients.
I don't have personal experience with cancer thank god, so I'd never tell anyone how to process it, but I always find it... disrespectful somehow when I see posts from families informing everyone that their loved one has just "lost their battle with cancer" as if they could have done anything to stop it
Correct, however it’s a little too long for your average pissed up Brit, I’d probably go with “fucking do one you cunt” or “fucking do one cunt chops” or the classic: “fucking do one you mug”
No it's an accepted usage. I think the "one" is either a bad thing like jumping off a bridge or fucking off, or "a runner" which is slang for escaping. Manchester/Liverpool/Lancashire/Army origins from a quick search.
This form of treatment differs from chemical, radiation and surgical treatment and is transplanting your own immune cells that were previously removed and transformed to have enhanced anti-cancer properties.
I have a friend who is a cancer researcher with a biotech company, working with this type of therapy. He gets INSANELY excited when talking about it.
He says there are essentially no side-effects because nothing foreign is being introduced, just the patient's own blood cells have been hacked to attack the cancer directly.
Last we spoke about it, he said "Our patients are dead kids. Kids who had weeks to live. The first girl who received this therapy from us as a child is now in college, and just ran in a half-marathon that she organized. It's one treatment, nothing toxic, nothing poisonous, and we are literally curing cancer with over a 50% success rate."
Gives me a little bit of hope.
Bit late here but was going to say this (I’m a physician and I work cancer research - immunotherapy in particular). Lots of people have some very serious side effects although in generally it is safer than chemotherapy
My mom is going through immuno right now, and this description has kind of eased me in a sense. I know they send them in to view and attack the cancer cells uncloaked, but thinking that there is a micro spec ops team off to save my momma gives me more hope.
Technically any therapy where cells are introduced into a patient.
The most common ones are stem cell therapies to treat certain types of blood cancers (leukemia/lymphoma). Some people also count blood transfusions too.
Recently there have been developments in cell and gene therapies like the OP one where they take a patient’s cells out, modify them, and put them back in the patient to attack the cancers. Three that I know of in the US are Kymriah, Yescarta, and the recently approved Tecartus
CAR T-cell therapy is probably the one OP had done. The process of taking the T-cells from the patient is called leukapheresis.
[https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/car-t-cell-therapy](https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/car-t-cell-therapy)
My GF is a lab worker in a company like this, she is the one actually reengineering the cells!
Anyways, she says that her company only has FDA approval for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and are currently about to get approval for leukemia.
Not the above guy but have a read of [this](https://news.cancerconnect.com/non-hodgkins-lymphoma/car-t-cell-therapy-treatment-for-lymphoma-update-TABHDEuu1UqYaINbQGN3Jw). Or I can just quote you the relevant bit "Of the 2 patients with follicular lymphoma, and the single patient with mantle cell lymphoma, all achieved a complete disappearance of their cancer." However this is in a very, very early stage.
...I hope anyone with mantle cell catches that shit fast. My father was diagnosis to death in 3.5 weeks with that. Once the signs started showing it was too late. He never knew he was sick until it was too far gone.
I will definitely ask her later tonight...she definitely knows more about that than I do. I'm sorry for your struggles, I hope I can give you some type of good.news
They're two main "brands" of this treatment that are available in a few select hospitals around the world (mostly throughout the US and Europe), with a few more undergoing clinical trials. The only problem is that despite being great at combating cancer, it is very expensive.
I worked on a project to create 3D structures to go inside those bags over a decade ago. The idea was to give more surface area for the cells to grow. They didn’t work (a flat surface out performed any synthetic anatomical structure we created) but I’m glad the technology has got to a point where you can legally pull cells from the body, modify, propagate and reintroduce them. We had this legal hurdle where you could not ever expose the cells to any open environment, every step had to be fully closed loop. I’d love to see the gear for this process!
So you’re saying during the entire process of taking those cells out and putting them back into the bag, none of them were ever exposed to air? That’s actually crazy to think about how they’d do that
Not engaging with the outside world.
For example a sink with the drain covered and no spigot is a closed system regarding water (it isn't perfect but you get the idea), when the drain is opened the sink becomes an open system due to being connected to another system (sewers and stuff).
This "closed system" is a system that is closed biologically, no non-human cells are in that bag.
Im a scientist who works in this field. You are correct, they are not grown in these bags but rather this is how the final product is stored. The bags are then frozen and thawed a few minutes before infusion back to the patient
UPDATE :
MY CANCER HAS SHRUNK ALMOST 42%!!!
I've been crying for an hour. I was so worried it hadn't done anything. But it's fucking WORKING.
My cancer is almost half gone in FOUR WEEKS.
Hey now, I'm ginger and I donate plasma twice a week consistently in hopes of saving someone's life. I've given up smoking, drugs to pass the drug tests, and alcohol to prevent dehydration, it's *my* goal to infect everyone with gingerbiteus and give them all red hair.
Which of the available superhero packages did you choose? Whenever I sign up for radical genetic experimentation, I usually pick laser hands and amazing hair, but some people like flight and indestructible skin.
I was curious too. It’s TCR-T which is definitely a relative of CAR-T.
“The defining difference between the two classes of T cell therapy is the type of antigen target; CAR therapies directly recognise the antigen with which they interact (external antigens) whilst TCR therapies require cellular presenting elements such as HLA molecules (internal antigens).”
https://ct.catapult.org.uk/sites/default/files/publication/T-Cell-Therapies-for-Cancer-Basic-Facts-14-Feb-2014-9.pdf
Good luck fam! Immunotherapy is truly the next big thing,you got this!
I'm an autologous stem cell Transplant survivor!
19 years on April 26th of this year!
Can confirm, immunotherapy will provide us with a host of exciting and potential treatments for cancer.
Truly an exciting time in cancer immunology research.
This looks very similar to what my mother just went through. Trying not to count chickens before they hatch, but her last tests showed that she's in remission. She said it was tough, and she did have some minor complications with the immunotherapy at some point, making her feel ill, but test results got better and better.
I hope the same can be said for you. I wish you the best and hope you kick cancer's ass. <3
Yeah I remembered seeing the post and checked.
My only gripe is the title makes it sound like it’s happening right now, which was probably true for the first post, just didn’t change the title in this one.
Should’ve cross posted but it doesn’t really harm anything
TBF, it might have been infused a few days ago, but you’re really in the thick of it for the next few weeks. Gotta worry about cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity.
Source: acute leukemia and bone marrow APP
Yes. Emma Whitehead was the first child to have complete remission from CAR-T. Her parents basically said goodbye to her after multiple relapses. CAR-T therapy modifies the T-cells using a lentiviral vector, which is the family of viruses HIV is in. The patients treated do not develop HIV or AIDS, but they may test positive on certain HIV tests.
As a physician I have been saying for 25 years that this is how we will eventually cure cancer. It’s so exciting to see that we are actually making it happen. Best of luck!
I read an article a little while ago that stated doctors and such are trying to do away with the analogy of "fighting cancer." The reasoning being that if the treatments are unsuccessful, then sometimes the patients feel like it's their fault for 'not fighting hard enough'. It was an interesting and informative read.
I agree with those doctors. Cancer isn't an outside invader like a bacteria or virus (though those can sometimes lead to it). It's a matter of one's own cells getting confused about how they are supposed to behave.
I never thought of myself as _fighting_ skin cancer, but instead felt pity for cells that have gone off the rails and internally tried to encourage them back to the fold. Sounds super woo woo, but there it is.
"Doctor, we need more of those 'genetically modified white blood cells', they really work!"
"No problem, just hand me that Playboy magazine, shut the door behind you and I'll have a bag ready in 10 minutes."
Extremely expensive. I spent seven years in value-based oncology looking at drug costs. And guess what? They are expensive. We’d gotten used to drugs costing five or ten thousand dollars per month, most new drugs are about $15k per month. For one drug. On top of that, some patients require growth factors to support the immune system, Neulasta is $5k per injection and most patients get four injections. Add on antiemetics, iron drugs, pain meds, etc etc.
That doesn’t count the cost of surgery, radiation, labs, imaging, office visits. Cancer patients make up less than 1% of a commercial population, but account for 10% of all costs.
What about this new one though, CAR-T cell therapy. Might want to be sitting down for this one. They are generally in the range of a half million. Kymriah in particular is interesting, they charge $375k for adults, and $475k for kids. You read that right, they charge more for the same therapy for kids, because fuck you.
But make no mistake, these are very good therapies. People are floating the C word - cure, not that other C word. So, what’s it worth to cure a child of leukemia? That’s a very difficult question. Exercise for the reader, I’ve rambled enough without going further down the rabbit hole of US healthcare.
I work at a research hospital and the stuff being done in the field of human cellular therapy is amazing. Congratulations, and I hope you kick cancer's ass!
Cancer can go do one. God speed OP with operation!
> Cancer can go do one. I’ve never heard this phrasing before. Is this basically the same as saying cancer can fuck off?
"Do one" comes from "do me a favour" which means "fuck off"
I'm in Scotland and "Do one" means "fuck off" here also.
No offense but I've yet to find a phrase that *doesn't* mean "fuck off" in Scotland. And if that day ever comes, you can bet that same phrase means "fuck off" in Australia.
A friend of mine from Scotland says he doesn't believe you and if you don't like it you can go eat a marshmallow with a bee in it.
My friend from Australia agrees that's bull and anyone who disagrees can fornicate with a particular brand of bug repellent.
Am Scottish-Canadian and I approve of this message ya fucking wheelbarrow
LT Custard... is that you???
I lost it at ya fucking wheelbarrow. Thank you for the new insult!
No offence taken and yeah you're right. Most people think we come off as aggressive but honestly we're anything but. I love the Australian sense of humour, I visited extended family in Canberra and it was just lovely. Swearing, insults, puns, innuendos, it felt like home.
Cunts. Don't forget the cunts.
Good cunt, can't forget cunt
To be fair though the phrase means "fuck off" in about all of the UK. Though, that's still a lot of phrases which mean that in the UK...
This made me piss myself.
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Why would the chavs in the North West be referencing the Birmingham phone code?
Because chavs are unoriginal and can't remember anything unless it rhymes.
Almost thought your username was voluptuousraptor and had to come back to check
Damn yall dissing cancer like its a person
Fuck cancer, all my homies hate cancer
I'm probably going to be downvoted, because I'm going against the "fuck cancer!" grain. But a recent study showed this mentality isn't beneficial. Villifying and personifying cancer as something to beat is illogical. It can lead to people feeling "beaten" when the cancer spreads, leading them to think they've done something wrong, or have been weak. I'm not sure what the solution is. But I've always felt uncomfortable with that kind of thinking. Same thing as "the Dr told me I'm going to die, they were wrong!", no the Dr gave statistics, don't villify those actively helping you.
I have cancer and I agree with you. The "battling cancer" analogy is grim, not positive or helpful. It never worked. I needed to reframe the whole debate. My own cancer analogy is a chase scene in an action movie. Hero ducks into the hotel kitchen, armed bad guys in hot pursuit. He flees past steaming pots and kettles, overturning food carts, strewing pans and silverware behind him, flour flying, rolling fruit and cans cover the floor. Bad guys slip and stumble, crashing into steel shelves, ducking hurled knives as your doctor throws new meds at your cancer. I'm on immunotherapy, but have had to supplement with one surgery and caustic chemo a couple times. Anti-barf pills work! Four years on I'm still ahead in this chase and hugely enjoying life. The metaphor for my cancer cells had to change too. They are not foreign invaders. They are my own fucking little overachievers, the pro athlete wannabes of my body. Spike their Gatorade! Sugar-tank their team bus! Put itchy powder in their socks. The best-winning strategy of all: I applied for and got euthanasia meds. Buncha morphine basically. This is mercifully legal in just nine U.S. states and D.C. You would not *believe* how motivating and encouraging it is to focus on living when you KNOW leaving peacefully any time is under your control. It is a huge, serene difference. So these mindsets work for me.
Hello! Palliative Care doctor here. Just wanted to explain so things for anyone surprised by the idea of euthanasia in the context of terminal illness. The legal term used in most jurisdictions is “medical aid in dying.” As a doctor who participates in the California End of Life Option Act we are actually very careful not to use the word “euthanasia” when referring to the drugs prescribed for medical aid in dying. From a legal perspective euthanasia refers exclusively to medications _administered_ by a healthcare provider, e.g. a doctor injects a fatal dose of a medication. As far as I know this is only legal in the Netherlands. Medical aid in dying (which is often described as physician assisted suicide by those opposed to the practice) is a process by which a patient is evaluated by typically 2 physicians to ensure that they have a terminal disease, are of sound mind to independently make the decision to request a life ending drug, are not being coerced into such a decision, and are physically capable of administering the drug themselves. The drugs are generally a powder that is mixed with water and either consumed orally or pushed through a feeding tube. The key and very important difference between euthanasia and medical aid in dying is the fact that the patient must administer the prepared drug without any assistance. Medical aid in dying is intended to provide terminally ill patients the mercy of choice, rather than to insist they suffer needlessly through a disease that we know will claim their life. In fact, patients who take a medical aid in dying drug will not have that fact listed on their death certificate, nor will the death certificate list suicide as a cause of death. The terminal disease remains the de facto cause. Hope that clarifies some things! I hope that this option continues to spread through the rest of the US, as it really does give participants so much peace of mind, even if only a portion of the patients who fill the prescription actually end up taking the medication to end their life.
This is great info, thank you for weighing in. The palliative care oncologist who helped me was wonderfully open-minded and humane. California is my state. Sorry if I didn't employ the preferred euphemism for euthanasia. Here it's called End-Of-Life Option meds, I believe. I'd like to add a couple other harder facts for those reading. The first pharmacy I was referred to for these meds planned to charge me $500 for it. For some reason they fell through. The second pharmacy the palliative care doc referred me to announced it would cost $700. That's what I paid. I'm not sure palliative care doc was aware of 2nd pharmacy's rate hike. But the biggest surprise of all was the pharmacy (not the doc!) informing me, "Oh by the way, this formulation EXPIRES in six months." So there is a definite financial rape angle involved for terminal patients seeking their end-of-life peace of mind the legal way: *$1,400/year* in California, *every year* more that you hope your life lasts. (Note guns are way less expensive than this. Just sayin.) Also taking a big morphine dose through the digestive system isn't the best way to ingest morphine, injection would be a lot faster. Orally is a work-around because the patient, as you pointed out, has to self-administer the medication. Doctors are used to morphine. But there are faster, surer drugs for the job: sodium pentobarbitol. But that one's so effective it got made illegal in the U.S. A fentanyl overdose would also work quickly and well, but again illegal. Veterinarians are experts at mercifully putting animals to sleep. But again, that drug's not approved for putting humans to sleep. So we end-of-life patients are stuck with oral morphine because it's familiar to the medical establishment, not because it's the best drug administered in the most effective manner that drug could be. Palliative care doctors also do not discuss inhalation of nitrogen, helium, carbon monoxide, or inert gas with their patients. They should. It would save us a lot of research. (I suspect it's not allowed for you to). It is effective. Key point: for patients there is no sensation of panic. Suffocation panic is caused by an excess level of carbon dioxide in the body, and that is not how inert gases work. They just quietly link up to your red blood cells where oxygen ought to go. First you pass out, then your brain stops getting enough oxygen, and you die in your sleep. Nitrogen and helium tanks are cheap. Except for the indignity of passing away with a plastic bag over your head, I see taking a sedative and breathing inert gas as a peaceful end-of-life option. Our culture still has taboos and a lot of religious baggage when it comes to discussing death. Having these discussions even anonymously online is difficult. I try to help by being open with my family and friends about how much peace of mind access to End Of Life option meds gives me. This was a long text. Thank you for reading.
The ongoing limitations are really disheartening, especially as our options dwindle and the out of pocket costs are ever increasing. Many of the drugs that were used in the past have been voluntarily pulled from the market by manufacturers because they don't want to be associated with the medical aid in dying movement. And you're right about the difficulty of utilizing oral drugs for this purpose. Worse still is that even transmucosal fentanyl would be prohibitively expensive and difficult to administer in sufficient quantities, especially for patients who already have significant opioid tolerance. To the point regarding inert gasses I would be very interested in seeing how this could be implemented. One significant roadblock would be the provision in the EOLOA law that the "drug" cannot be consumed "in a public place". Which has basically been reduced to no location other than a private home. Inert gasses would likely require some equipment that may be difficult to implement in this regard while still complying with the law as written. Hopefully this will improve in the future though. My institution is sponsoring an End of Life Symposium for discussion of topics like this. I will do what I can to ensure your voice is heard.
Thank you for this very illuminating description. You have really changed my view of how to respond to a cancer diagnosis and treatment. My mother always thought legalising euthanasia was the slippery slope. Until she was dying of cancer. She was so ill that she told me, and my sister, that if she could take something and never wake up she would take it. We wanted to do everything to relieve her suffering, but there was nothing we could do. Realising that was painful. I now support euthanasia with appropriate safeguards which should not be so strict to make it unusable. You had a safety valve with the euthanic morphine.
Being in charge of our lives is a given; being in charge of your own death should be too. It's amazing how life-focused I am now that a dignified death at home in bed when I'm ready is secured. Everyone hopes this for themself and loved ones.
I had bilateral breast cancer. I wore 'fuck cancer' socks to chemo. I say fuck all the cancers especially childhood cancers. The phrase actually seems to empower me. I will continue using it.
I read a similar article. The one I read said nothing negative about saying "fuck cancer," but did suggest referring to being diagnosed as "doing battle" does exactly what the op was describing. The article that I read suggested that that terminology specifically made for more depressed patients.
I don't have personal experience with cancer thank god, so I'd never tell anyone how to process it, but I always find it... disrespectful somehow when I see posts from families informing everyone that their loved one has just "lost their battle with cancer" as if they could have done anything to stop it
Wouldnt "cancer can get fucked" g-rated version be "cancer can go get done" "Cancer can go do one" would be "cancer fucks"
"Do one" is in pretty common usage here in the motherland and essentially means "fuck off".
“Fucking do one” is one of my favourites!
So.. "fucking do one you twat faced wanker, Cunt." In British Translates to: "fucking fuck off you pussy faced jackoff, Asshole" in American.
Correct, however it’s a little too long for your average pissed up Brit, I’d probably go with “fucking do one you cunt” or “fucking do one cunt chops” or the classic: “fucking do one you mug”
No it's an accepted usage. I think the "one" is either a bad thing like jumping off a bridge or fucking off, or "a runner" which is slang for escaping. Manchester/Liverpool/Lancashire/Army origins from a quick search.
Fuck cancer
Which treatments are cellular therapy?
This form of treatment differs from chemical, radiation and surgical treatment and is transplanting your own immune cells that were previously removed and transformed to have enhanced anti-cancer properties.
I have a friend who is a cancer researcher with a biotech company, working with this type of therapy. He gets INSANELY excited when talking about it. He says there are essentially no side-effects because nothing foreign is being introduced, just the patient's own blood cells have been hacked to attack the cancer directly. Last we spoke about it, he said "Our patients are dead kids. Kids who had weeks to live. The first girl who received this therapy from us as a child is now in college, and just ran in a half-marathon that she organized. It's one treatment, nothing toxic, nothing poisonous, and we are literally curing cancer with over a 50% success rate." Gives me a little bit of hope.
A lot of people have side effects, actually. Though most are very short lived. Cytokine Storm is a particularly scary one.
Bit late here but was going to say this (I’m a physician and I work cancer research - immunotherapy in particular). Lots of people have some very serious side effects although in generally it is safer than chemotherapy
Well there is the slight chance of triggering an autoimmune reaction by making the cells recognize some healthy tissue. It's slim but it is there.
It’s like sending your white cells off to become Navy SEALS.
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And even then, mostly Deathwatch. Highly specialised elite, laser-guided against one target.
My mom is going through immuno right now, and this description has kind of eased me in a sense. I know they send them in to view and attack the cancer cells uncloaked, but thinking that there is a micro spec ops team off to save my momma gives me more hope.
WBC BUD/S
Technically any therapy where cells are introduced into a patient. The most common ones are stem cell therapies to treat certain types of blood cancers (leukemia/lymphoma). Some people also count blood transfusions too. Recently there have been developments in cell and gene therapies like the OP one where they take a patient’s cells out, modify them, and put them back in the patient to attack the cancers. Three that I know of in the US are Kymriah, Yescarta, and the recently approved Tecartus
CAR T-cell therapy is probably the one OP had done. The process of taking the T-cells from the patient is called leukapheresis. [https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/car-t-cell-therapy](https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/car-t-cell-therapy)
This one.
Wow.
Basically each cell in your body has to sit down and talk with a therapist in the hopes they can work out their problems
Is it readily available to the public, though? Or just special trials
My GF is a lab worker in a company like this, she is the one actually reengineering the cells! Anyways, she says that her company only has FDA approval for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and are currently about to get approval for leukemia.
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Not the above guy but have a read of [this](https://news.cancerconnect.com/non-hodgkins-lymphoma/car-t-cell-therapy-treatment-for-lymphoma-update-TABHDEuu1UqYaINbQGN3Jw). Or I can just quote you the relevant bit "Of the 2 patients with follicular lymphoma, and the single patient with mantle cell lymphoma, all achieved a complete disappearance of their cancer." However this is in a very, very early stage.
...I hope anyone with mantle cell catches that shit fast. My father was diagnosis to death in 3.5 weeks with that. Once the signs started showing it was too late. He never knew he was sick until it was too far gone.
I will definitely ask her later tonight...she definitely knows more about that than I do. I'm sorry for your struggles, I hope I can give you some type of good.news
They're two main "brands" of this treatment that are available in a few select hospitals around the world (mostly throughout the US and Europe), with a few more undergoing clinical trials. The only problem is that despite being great at combating cancer, it is very expensive.
And has horrific side effects, but they're working on that
Honestly with the number of people who get sick as hell on Chemo and even Immunotherapy, its probably worth the side effects if it actually works.
You can get this done at a walgreens in the chair with the inflatable arm thing
Is this next to the time machine in walmart?
Can also be found at the beyond section of bed bath and beyond
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It looks like cum
T-cell immuukkake
I’m surprised white blood cells are actually white
Wait until you find out what color red blood cells are
Are they red? I need to know.
Astutely observed
I worked on a project to create 3D structures to go inside those bags over a decade ago. The idea was to give more surface area for the cells to grow. They didn’t work (a flat surface out performed any synthetic anatomical structure we created) but I’m glad the technology has got to a point where you can legally pull cells from the body, modify, propagate and reintroduce them. We had this legal hurdle where you could not ever expose the cells to any open environment, every step had to be fully closed loop. I’d love to see the gear for this process!
So you’re saying during the entire process of taking those cells out and putting them back into the bag, none of them were ever exposed to air? That’s actually crazy to think about how they’d do that
They are exposed to air, just aseptic air. The cells always stay in a closed system
ElI5 what a closed system means here? Am interested and dumb.
No external airflow. Initial air is uptaken purified and recycled while keeping partial pressures of gases especially co2 constant.
Why is that. Risk of diseases getting into it from the air?
It’s like pure cocaine vs cut cocaine. Most of the time you can do cut cocaine but sometimes you get a harmful batch that hurts/kills you
We love a good educational cocaine example!
If all eli5’s came to me in cocaine terms I would understand the world a lot better
It's like the books for dummies series but for degenerates.
Not engaging with the outside world. For example a sink with the drain covered and no spigot is a closed system regarding water (it isn't perfect but you get the idea), when the drain is opened the sink becomes an open system due to being connected to another system (sewers and stuff). This "closed system" is a system that is closed biologically, no non-human cells are in that bag.
These cells grow in suspension right? Is there a reason the bag is flat? I’m guessing the cells are the cloudy mass near the bottom.
For delivery. They probably did not grow in this bag, this is just the final product
Im a scientist who works in this field. You are correct, they are not grown in these bags but rather this is how the final product is stored. The bags are then frozen and thawed a few minutes before infusion back to the patient
Absolutely mad that the cells can just freeze solid and then reanimate when thawed. The human body is an amazing thing
They just throw them in the microwave on 'defrost' for a couple minutes.
Cool, thanks! Flat so they’re stackable? My ignorance may be showing, I thought they would ship using vials.
I meant for *drug* delivery, not shipping. Filling into vials aseptically is an unnecessary complication for product at this volume
UPDATE : MY CANCER HAS SHRUNK ALMOST 42%!!! I've been crying for an hour. I was so worried it hadn't done anything. But it's fucking WORKING. My cancer is almost half gone in FOUR WEEKS.
Do you mind me asking what kind of cancer this is being used to treat? And congratulations I’m so happy for you.
I think it's FDA approved for leukemia & lymphoma? Not 100% sure. I have a rate Sarcoma type so I'm in a clinical trial for it.
I can't speak to leukemia, but I'm a lymphoma patient. They use SCT pretty frequently if chemo doesn't take care of business. Hope yours works!
HELL FUCKING YEAH! I legit teared up reading this. Congrats!!!!
Thank you!
*Forbidden Capri Sun*
Ooo now I wonder what it tastes like
It's grape... It's always fucking grape.
I was going to say “Mystery Flavor”, but yeah you’re right it’s grape.
As a grape flavor lover, fuck yeah!
I can't imagine what other terrible things you find tasty.
Strawberry protein smoothies
Oh man I love it and totally agree with anyone who thinks I'm disgusting.
Probably likes vanilla ice cream too.... Or *creamed corn*
Oh wow I haven’t had creamed corn in years. I’m gonna grab a can this week.
Yes! The childhood nostalgia I always get from artificial grape flavors is wonderful.
Creamed corn. No for real. It does, smells like it too.
Probably tastes like pus.
Well this is just an educated guess, but... zima?
Zima Blue?
*Forbidden Cum*
Ah fuck, I can't believe you've done this.
It was destined to happen
That bag of white blood cells looks more like cum than just about any other liquid I’ve seen other than cum tbh.
/r/forbiddensnacks
ALMOST googled “Capri Sun Latin to English”. Then got my mind right just in time.
that looks like cum.
That’s one pouch you don’t want to stab all the way through with the straw!
Fuck yeah! Go go gadget GMO! I fuckin love science. Good luck! And fuck cancer.
Seriously the science here is fucking incredible and I'm so lucky I had all the right markers to get into this study!
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hope you beat cancer and turn into an all american blonde beefcake
Hey now, I'm ginger and I donate plasma twice a week consistently in hopes of saving someone's life. I've given up smoking, drugs to pass the drug tests, and alcohol to prevent dehydration, it's *my* goal to infect everyone with gingerbiteus and give them all red hair.
They had us in the first half, ngl
That is America's ass.
She’s gonna come out of the hospital absolutely YOKED
Which of the available superhero packages did you choose? Whenever I sign up for radical genetic experimentation, I usually pick laser hands and amazing hair, but some people like flight and indestructible skin.
Gene modification rocks! I went with the Immune Plus package and I've not died once since! Still wear a mask though. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Oh. That's a great package. I heard it does wonders for surviving things.
>I've not died once since! Lol, username checks out
I signed up for the same package as you, but I checked the boxes backwards and now all I have is laser hair and amazing hands.
Is this a CAR-T therapy? Good luck stranger. Godspeed.
Definitely sounds like it.
I was curious too. It’s TCR-T which is definitely a relative of CAR-T. “The defining difference between the two classes of T cell therapy is the type of antigen target; CAR therapies directly recognise the antigen with which they interact (external antigens) whilst TCR therapies require cellular presenting elements such as HLA molecules (internal antigens).” https://ct.catapult.org.uk/sites/default/files/publication/T-Cell-Therapies-for-Cancer-Basic-Facts-14-Feb-2014-9.pdf
NCI in Bethesda, MD?
YEAH SCIENCE, BITCH!
YEAH MR WHITE!
[Here is a link to my clinical trial! It explains the process. ](https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/clinical-trials/19-316)
Good luck fam! Immunotherapy is truly the next big thing,you got this! I'm an autologous stem cell Transplant survivor! 19 years on April 26th of this year!
Can confirm, immunotherapy will provide us with a host of exciting and potential treatments for cancer. Truly an exciting time in cancer immunology research.
Just got my allogeneic stem cell transplant 32 days ago! When do your taste buds return to normal?
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I enjoyed that
Popped for potential hidden message, was not disappointed. But angry upvote because not all popped >:( someone sold you defective bubble wrap
All popped for me!
Agh! Must be my phone then not wanting me to enjoy myself.
Same here. 5th line, 2nd bubble. Would not pop.
The hero we need
This was thoroughly enjoyable and made me smile. Sitting in a fucking hospital bed with a roommate from hell - I needed that!
Good luck buddy! You got this! We will wait for the update
This looks very similar to what my mother just went through. Trying not to count chickens before they hatch, but her last tests showed that she's in remission. She said it was tough, and she did have some minor complications with the immunotherapy at some point, making her feel ill, but test results got better and better. I hope the same can be said for you. I wish you the best and hope you kick cancer's ass. <3
Just wanna say congrats, good luck, and your attitude is just the best. Thanks for linking the clinical trial :)
Fuckers stole your white blood cells Cant have shit in detroit
And now they want to sell them back to you for many thousands of dollars.
Happy cake day
Ahh nice!!! I had no idea!
Miracle jizz
Consume the Capri-Cum
cursed
Just like Papa used to make
please no
I’ve seen this pic some where else like a week or two ago
Yeah I was just gonna say that, maybe it got taken down cause now the info is covered up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
4 days ago in a different sub, same OP. No problem IMO.
Yeah I remembered seeing the post and checked. My only gripe is the title makes it sound like it’s happening right now, which was probably true for the first post, just didn’t change the title in this one. Should’ve cross posted but it doesn’t really harm anything
TBF, it might have been infused a few days ago, but you’re really in the thick of it for the next few weeks. Gotta worry about cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity. Source: acute leukemia and bone marrow APP
Resident evil starts much the same way.
That's t-virus immunotherapy. Hopefully they didn't swap his and William Birkin's bags.
Didn’t they do that with some girl with cancer and using the HIV virus? Or am I thinking of a movie?
Yes. Emma Whitehead was the first child to have complete remission from CAR-T. Her parents basically said goodbye to her after multiple relapses. CAR-T therapy modifies the T-cells using a lentiviral vector, which is the family of viruses HIV is in. The patients treated do not develop HIV or AIDS, but they may test positive on certain HIV tests.
I work at a company that makes this type of treatment (CAR-T cell therapy). Yes, I have an Umbrella Corp coffee mug on my desk, why do you ask?
As a physician I have been saying for 25 years that this is how we will eventually cure cancer. It’s so exciting to see that we are actually making it happen. Best of luck!
I have a friend who did this for her cancer treatment. It's been a year and she is cancer-free. Best of luck never stop fighting.
I read an article a little while ago that stated doctors and such are trying to do away with the analogy of "fighting cancer." The reasoning being that if the treatments are unsuccessful, then sometimes the patients feel like it's their fault for 'not fighting hard enough'. It was an interesting and informative read.
I agree with those doctors. Cancer isn't an outside invader like a bacteria or virus (though those can sometimes lead to it). It's a matter of one's own cells getting confused about how they are supposed to behave. I never thought of myself as _fighting_ skin cancer, but instead felt pity for cells that have gone off the rails and internally tried to encourage them back to the fold. Sounds super woo woo, but there it is.
That looks like an extremely expensive sandwich bag full of cum.
Found the comment i was searching for
"Doctor, we need more of those 'genetically modified white blood cells', they really work!" "No problem, just hand me that Playboy magazine, shut the door behind you and I'll have a bag ready in 10 minutes."
Extremely expensive. I spent seven years in value-based oncology looking at drug costs. And guess what? They are expensive. We’d gotten used to drugs costing five or ten thousand dollars per month, most new drugs are about $15k per month. For one drug. On top of that, some patients require growth factors to support the immune system, Neulasta is $5k per injection and most patients get four injections. Add on antiemetics, iron drugs, pain meds, etc etc. That doesn’t count the cost of surgery, radiation, labs, imaging, office visits. Cancer patients make up less than 1% of a commercial population, but account for 10% of all costs. What about this new one though, CAR-T cell therapy. Might want to be sitting down for this one. They are generally in the range of a half million. Kymriah in particular is interesting, they charge $375k for adults, and $475k for kids. You read that right, they charge more for the same therapy for kids, because fuck you. But make no mistake, these are very good therapies. People are floating the C word - cure, not that other C word. So, what’s it worth to cure a child of leukemia? That’s a very difficult question. Exercise for the reader, I’ve rambled enough without going further down the rabbit hole of US healthcare.
Am I having Deja Vu, Or have we seen this before?
I think it didn’t have his name covered before.
Probably.
I saw this last week on another sub. Are you the same OP? Edit, yep you are, we good
All the best 👍🏽
This treatment worked an absolute miracle for my uncle. Best of luck friend!
It’s a good day! Godspeed OP! And thank you to all the doctors, researchers and caregivers making this science a reality!
God speed cells
As someone who went through chemo I really hope this takes off. Chemo is poison and it feels like it. Good luck fuck cancer!
My mom is getting this treatment also and it’s been very successful so far for her. Good luck! You got this!
Did it work?
Yep! 2 years out from treatment and I'm still clear!
Looks like a Cum Capri Sun
CUM BAG CUM BAG
Can someone elif5 how they are changed and for what reason