Dr. Michael Gruber spoke about Thalidomide, now being studied for its anti-angiogenesis properties. In the discussion he mentioned that using MRI and other scanning tools it is now possible to assess the actual size and location of a tumor, target a biopsy, response to treatment-even determining if there is necrosis (dead cells) or tumor regression. Dr. Gerard Batiste from Canda, spoke about AE941 Neovostat, an oral water soluble derived extract from shark cartilage. The studies look good with this product, lending delayed credence to the idea of shark cartilage as a cancer therapy. In 104 patients, there was only one incident of difficulty with the drug. Doctors would call that "well tolerated". This is in Phase III trials (lots of patients and useful results should follow). In mice this substance demonstrated anti-metastatic activity. It remains to be seen if it will do so in humans. He mentioned that unlike animals, patients can develop new tumors or recurrences after this treatment. Dr. Dennis Slamon of UCLA spoke about Herceptin. He mentioned that "most of us are frustrated by the lack of effect (of conventional therapy) on survival in metastatic disease". Herceptin has been approved for treating metastatic disease and is being tested in women for "first line" or treatment upon diagnosis. This drug is not toxic, not a chemotherapy-the negative response seems to be limited to a fever. WARNING: You and your doctor should know that there is danger of heart toxicity when combined with Adriamycin (doxirubicin), sometimes even if that use was in the past. Also there is some controversy over what test to take to measure her 2 neu (cer-b). It appears now that researchers are using both available tests(IHC and FISH) to determine status. Larry Norton, Memorial Sloan Kettering stated that chemotherapy is more successful with estrogen receptor negative disease than with postive disease. He also said that currently there is NO survival advantage with bone marrow transplant, in fact early mortality is 7.5% higher. A talk was given on Zolodronate compared to Pamidronate (these are two drugs used to delay, reduce, reverse bone metastasis). I did not hear the talk but the abstract showed that Zolodronate which is a newer bisphosphonate (they are both this class of drug)worked well. It is given in smaller doses and takes less time to administer-5 minutes versus an hour or more. I am not sure if it works better-if you are interested in this, ask your doctor. Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.