Comment by apparent

Comment by apparent 3 days ago

6 replies

This isn't quite as bad as the garden variety "in mice" studies:

> The combination therapy also led to significant regression in genetically engineered mouse tumours and in human cancer tissues grown in lab mice, known as patient-derived tumour xenografts (PDX).

stultissimus 3 days ago

PDX is a double edged sword. Human tumors are engrafted into mice with no immune system. Immune-cancer interface is incredibly important, yet completely lacking in these models. Consider that some of the greatest cancer drugs ever work specifically on the immune system (e.g. checkpoint inhibitors like Keytruda).

  • DennisP 3 days ago

    A drug that works even without help from the immune system seems like it might be even better. It's hard to imagine how the immune system might interfere, since it doesn't interfere with other drugs.

  • [removed] 3 days ago
    [deleted]
ramesh31 3 days ago

>"The combination therapy also led to significant regression in genetically engineered mouse tumours and in human cancer tissues grown in lab mice"

Required XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1217/

  • apparent 3 days ago

    Is PDX considered to be illegitimate? Would be curious to know if prior studies that showed success with PDX methods ultimately resulted in useful therapeutics.