Best news I've heard today: "White House Press Secretary Tony Snow revealed to CNN he plans to return to his post next week, a month after a cancerous growth was found on his liver."
posted by Helen at 7:29 AM
Thursday, April 26, 2007
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8 Comments:
That is good news. The three year and five year survival rates for liver cancer are 10% and 4% respectively, with most patients dying within a few months.
If he's in good enough shape to return to the White House, he's probably doing pretty well. The drugs we have for treating cancer these days are much better than a decade ago.
The real problem with cancer is that it's such a complex disease. It doesn't appear to be a single mutation or cellular defect that can be singled out as causing it. Cancer is a manifestation of a number of abnormalities within a cell, so broad spectrum treatments that aren't horribly toxic to healthy cells are tough to develop.
The company I work for currently has an anti-cancer compound in Phase I clinical trials, so it's still early stage, but so far it looks good. Most drugs tend to fall out in Phase II though, so that will be the real hurdle. Since 1997, the FDA does allow for "fast track" accelerated review and approval for drugs that are meant to treat life threatening conditions. It does help to get cancer drugs to market faster if they show promise.
I'm sure the Huffington Pist is all aglow with warm feelings for Tony.
I for one thank God he's able to return to work and pray for his recovery. A colleague and good friend of mine is just beginning his battle.
"...The company I work for currently has an anti-cancer compound in Phase I clinical trials, so it's still early stage, but so far it looks good. Most drugs tend to fall out in Phase II though, so that will be the real hurdle. Since 1997, the FDA does allow for "fast track" accelerated review and approval for drugs that are meant to treat life threatening conditions. It does help to get cancer drugs to market faster if they show promise. "
I wonder if it will be affordable to those of us who are uninsured and don't make Tony Snow's pay??? (that is also a really big hurdle)
As a fellow cancer survivor, I can only say Hooray!!!
Last year, Tony sent me an email (in part, reproduced here and gave me good solid advice about fighting cancer. I returned the favor and amd so delighted that he is doing well. Hip, Hip, Hooray!!!
P.S., I think a larger version of this comment got gobbled up... ;-)
anonymous 5:05PM:
That's assuming it makes it through clinical trials, which is a long shot. If it doesn't we're out all the money dumped into that program, which is in the tens of millions. Most drugs end up this way.
Understand that the choice is between having drugs that are expensive until the patent expires, and having no new drugs.
You're not paying for the cost of making the drug itself. That's usually not that significant. You're paying for all the information and knowledge that went into bringing that drug to market, of which a significant component is the cost of complying with government regulations to ensure the drug is safe and effective.
Pharmaceuticals are very profitable if you can bring successful drugs to market, but it's also very risky, and the odds of actually doing that are slim. Keep in mind that much of the innovation these days is coming out of small biotech companies and smaller research oriented pharmas. None of these operations would get venture funding, or any interest from big pharma, if there weren't a potential for a big payout if you manage to get something approved, and it's successful.
I can sympathize with people who suggest that new drugs are too expensive, but understand that the cost of lowering that expense are not zero. They are, in fact, significant over the long run; you end up with fewer new drugs on the market.
"I wonder if it will be affordable to those of us who are uninsured and don't make Tony Snow's pay??? (that is also a really big hurdle)."
anon 5:05 pm.
So why don't you start right now to plan for your own future, including downsides, instead of saying the rest of us should do it for you, as though you are already a helpless victim?
There's almost always a way. And we don't really owe you unless you try.
I certainly hope Tony wins his battle. As a husband and father of three relatively young kids, he deserves to be around a long time.
Tony Snow is a high class act.
By the way, it's probably a safe assumption he was making more at Fox than working for the gov't.
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