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Obama and a Form of Liver Cancer.
A while back in this space, I noted that the science policies of the Clinton administration probably were the drivers for the rapid response to Covid-19. Without the scientific infrastructure for gene mapping for which he pushed, the Covid vaccines would still be years away:
It just occurred to me who the President who did the most to fight Covid was.
I'd now like to point out how the Obama administration built on that legacy, albeit nothing quite as immediately dramatic.
This news item appeared in my work email a few days ago, in one of the scientific newsfeeds to which I subscribe: Team Finds Compounds Capable of Killing Lethal Liver Cancer Cells
Some excerpts:
Treatment options for a deadly liver cancer, fibrolamellar carcinoma, are severely lacking. Drugs that work on other liver cancers are not effective, and although progress has been made in identifying the specific genes involved in driving the growth of fibrolamellar tumors, these findings have yet to translate into any treatment. For now, surgery is the only option for those affected--mostly children and young adults with no prior liver conditions.
Sanford M. Simon and his group understood that patients dying of fibrolamellar could not afford to wait. "There are people who need therapy now," he says. So his group threw the kitchen sink at the problem and tested over 5,000 compounds, either already approved for other clinical uses or in clinical trials, to see whether any of the compounds could be repurposed to treat fibrolamellar. The team ultimately discovered a few classes of therapeutics that destroy fibrolamellar tumor cells growing in mice. Their findings are published in Cancer Discovery.
"We decided to be completely agnostic about what we thought would work--we tried everything," says Simon, head of the Laboratory of Cellular Biophysics. "To our surprise, we found a few compounds that work really well..."
...The findings suggest that it may be unnecessary to screen new cancer drug candidates in cells grown in mice before testing them on human cells--an extra step that can cost cancer researchers many months. Given these results, physicians may soon be able to biopsy cells from a patient's tumor, subject those cells to a bevy of drug candidates until they find the most effective compound for that specific patient, and have a treatment plan ready in a matter of days--potentially transforming the landscape of precision medicine...
Advances in precision medicine
...Simon's recent work was inspired by the 2015 precision medicine initiative begun in the Obama administration, which promised to change the face of medicine with a targeted approach, tailored to a patient's unique genetic composition, lifestyle, and environment.
"You don't want to give everyone with a limp the same treatment--you want it 'precisely targeted' based on whether they have twisted their ankle, broken a bone, or just have a splinter," says Simon...
Sanford M. Simon and his group understood that patients dying of fibrolamellar could not afford to wait. "There are people who need therapy now," he says. So his group threw the kitchen sink at the problem and tested over 5,000 compounds, either already approved for other clinical uses or in clinical trials, to see whether any of the compounds could be repurposed to treat fibrolamellar. The team ultimately discovered a few classes of therapeutics that destroy fibrolamellar tumor cells growing in mice. Their findings are published in Cancer Discovery.
"We decided to be completely agnostic about what we thought would work--we tried everything," says Simon, head of the Laboratory of Cellular Biophysics. "To our surprise, we found a few compounds that work really well..."
...The findings suggest that it may be unnecessary to screen new cancer drug candidates in cells grown in mice before testing them on human cells--an extra step that can cost cancer researchers many months. Given these results, physicians may soon be able to biopsy cells from a patient's tumor, subject those cells to a bevy of drug candidates until they find the most effective compound for that specific patient, and have a treatment plan ready in a matter of days--potentially transforming the landscape of precision medicine...
Advances in precision medicine
...Simon's recent work was inspired by the 2015 precision medicine initiative begun in the Obama administration, which promised to change the face of medicine with a targeted approach, tailored to a patient's unique genetic composition, lifestyle, and environment.
"You don't want to give everyone with a limp the same treatment--you want it 'precisely targeted' based on whether they have twisted their ankle, broken a bone, or just have a splinter," says Simon...
I added the bold referring to the Obama Administration.
Wise investments in science do not pay off immediately, but they do provide for a better future.
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