I spent this past weekend at the University of Michigan. My younger son Max, who is a sophomore, invited me to come and participate in the students’ Relay for Life activities. I was surprised that they scheduled the Relay for this particular weekend, as they start their final exam period the following Monday! He assured [...]
Clarifying the Issues Surrounding Dendreon's Provenge Posted on Apr 16th, 2007 with stocks: DNDN Wall Diver submits: Rebuttal to article, "Dendreon's Provenge Apart by ODAC Member": On April 13, 2007, in Volume 33, No. 14 of The Cancer Letter, a letter was published which the Editor, Paul Goldberg, attributed to Howard Scher, MD, of the [...]
Dr. Howard Scher, M.D. was one of the four members of the Provenge advisory committee who voted against recommending that the FDA approve Provenge. Dr. Scher is a respected clinician (practicing at Sloane Kettering Hospital) and researcher. I do believe that his letter contributes to the discussion about Povenge and so I have chosen to [...]
Incurable- Not capable of being cured; beyond the power and skill of medicine to remedy Treatable- Possible to treat; responsive to treatment Incurable does not mean Untreatable Advanced Prostate Cancer is incurable, but it is treatable. Incurable and untreatable should never be confused. Today, there are treatments that provide varying degrees of control of advanced [...]
Last Thursday, March 29, 2007, I had the opportunity to participate as a patient advocate in the FDA's Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. The purpose of the committee meeting was to evaluate the application of Dendreon Corp for approval of their new drug, Sipuleucel-T (Provenge). I want to clarify the facts and dispel some [...]