• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Gravy and Thalidomide

Nie Trink Wasser

Graduate Poster
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Messages
1,317
eathome.jpg



who here LOVES the stuff ?
 
alright, guess I offended.


today was the first day I had ever heard of this problem and drug.....

it's fascinating to me.




:o
 
Nie Trink Wasser said:
alright, guess I offended.


today was the first day I had ever heard of this problem and drug.....

it's fascinating to me.




:o

You could amputate all your limbs and pretend you are a Thalidomide baby :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
LeFevre said:


You could amputate all your limbs and pretend you are a Thalidomide baby :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

*Sigh*, it just wouldn't be the same.

Seriously, thalidomide is a promising drug for advanced cancer. (I believe it's called an "angiogenisis inhibitor".) It prevents the formation of new blood vessels to feed the tumors. Theoretically, you could live with a tumor for years. It doesn't go away, but it never gets any bigger.

Unfortunately, the body usually figures out a way to thwart the effect.
 
algorithm, I think you meant the tumour usually figures out a way to thwart the effect
 
BillyJoe said:
algorithm, I think you meant the tumour usually figures out a way to thwart the effect

I don't think so. Unless I'm mistaken, the tumor doesn't generate blood vessels, the body does in response to the growth of the tumor. That's what Thalidomide prevents. Since the body WANTS to generate new blood vessels to accomodate growth, it eventually becomes resistant to the drug. Not soon enough to keep babies from being born without arms and legs, though. :(
 
I saw an interesting show (NOVA?) on PBS last year on this very subject. They showed how a cancer (tumer?) excretes a substance that causes new blood vessels to grow, and that a thalidomide metabolite, would stop the growth. I'll see if I can find a link tomorrow.
 
Nie Trink Wasser said:
alright, guess I offended.


today was the first day I had ever heard of this problem and drug.....
Happy belated birthday!
(Nie Trink Wasser, born June 2, 2003.)
 
aggle: It's thought the tumour stimulates the growth of new blood vessels (process called angiogenesis). When tumours are less than ~3mm in diameter, they can get nutrients/oxygen by perfusion alone. For many solid tumours, angiogenesis has to take place for them to continue to grow beyond this size. There is a lot of research looking into anti-angiogenic strategies, but at the moment, we're all a bit taken aback to find they don't work so well for solid tumours, but seem to work well in haematogenous malignancies (leukaemia, myeloma, etc). This isn't understood very well yet.

In the example linked above, it was the tumour that 'thwarted' the drug, and very effectively too. That particular type of tumour is very good at thwarting all treatments thrown at it so far.
 
shemp said:
I came here for the gravy! Where's the gravy???

And we wont go until we got some
And we wont go until we got some
And we wont go until we got some
So bring some right here!
 
spoonhandler said:
In the example linked above, it was the tumour that 'thwarted' the drug, and very effectively too. That particular type of tumour is very good at thwarting all treatments thrown at it so far.

OK, so I spoke out of pure speculation and had no earthly clue what I was talking about. SO WHAT!!! ;)
 

Back
Top Bottom