Huge Tumor News

You guys there are some seriously exciting new vaccines and drugs targeting IDH mutations. I have to thank our buddy Stephen (Astrocytoma Options) for keeping his fingers on the pulse of cutting edge treatments. This means great things for us in the cancer/tumor world. Our job is to keep hanging on until effective treatments become available. I mean get real, radiation and chemo aren't cutting it. So that's it. We just have to hold out and stay healthy long enough for research, and technology, and the government to allow treatments that will heal us. And it looks like we've got a few on the horizon that may do the trick.

The link below is referencing blood cancers, but that's okay, if it does work on IDH2 mutations, that means (I believe) that it would be effective for all cancers with the mutation (more or less, anyway - I'm sure some of the mechanisms are different). Meaning you could use the drug for other cancers (ie: gliomas) as an off-label treatment.
Phase 1 Data Demonstrating Clinical Activity of AG-221, First-in-Class Inhibitor of IDH2 Mutations, in Patients with Advanced Blood Cancers

Now this link is the most exciting for me as an IDH1 mutant glioma fighter. Word on the street is that Duke is working on a similar vaccine. It is literally a race for a possible cure. I hear that they're headed into phase II clinical trail very soon. YES!!!! So exciting. Here is a direct quote from the release, "Vaccination of humanized A2.DR1 transgenic mice bearing syngeneic IDH1R132H-mutated tumors resulted in a mutation-specific antitumor immune response and control of established tumors, which were infiltrated by IDH1R132H-specific T cells." (click for full abstract). So it looks like the vaccination was specifically targeting the IDH1 mutation and caused an anti-tumor response which I'm not sure if it caused a shrinkage of the tumor itself, but at minimum it looks like it stopped tumor growth. How fantastic is that!?! It's what we consider a miracle in our household! Now, of course, they start with mouse models, and we need to make sure that this vaccine is effective in humans with established tumors (as opposed to grafted/implanted tumors). Oh man, but to be getting this close to real treatments, real options, is absolutely thrilling. When I got those emails from Stephen, my eyes started watering, and my soul became weightless. It's just fantastic.

If you guys haven't had the chance to check out Astrocytoma Options, please take the time to check it out. It is the best wealth of knowledge, and research, and info on astrocytomas/gliomas. Stephen is a selfless genius and we are all very, very lucky that he cares for his friend so much that it turned into a passion to help her live a long healthy life after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, and now it has morphed into a goal to help other people survive.

You guys, let's do this! Let's keep surviving for a cure! That's all we have to do is be like Bond and live to die another day.

The Magical Puzzle

Creating my own candle from all the old excess candle wax:

Planting seeds indoors (to transfer into the garden in a few weeks):

(They're watching the grownups.)

Tickling Lemolo into producing his little Eureka lemons:

(Can you see the baby lemons? - they look like limes.)

I love to repurpose, reuse, create, and nurture. I think my passion for plants has to do with the fact that so much in my life is out of my hands (the big picture anyway). So any time my fingers are literally knuckles deep in soil, I feel at home, safe. Gardening allows me to contribute, to accomplish, and encourage. It's just the little seeds, sleeping in their shells. Then, so easily, they sprout and grow unbridled shoots, with their budding leaves, and arms reaching every which way. And the flowers, with petals waving, fluttering open and closed throughout the day, winking their pistils for the insects. It's breath taking. Like the concept from the old children's book, "Indian in The Cupboard", it's magical.

It's ironic that I had zero desire to garden while growing up. My mom would prod, trying to get me to weed with her, but I would run off. Now, it's my favorite thing to do. If not weed, at least garden. I check on my seedlings, and starts, and bulbs, and established plants every day. Sometimes two or three times. I lean over, squating near the earth, drinking it in with my eyes. There's always another bud, or leaf, or sprout to notice. I'll never get sick of it.

Sometimes, most times, I inventory the little plants with my eyes while my mind wanders off to religion, of faith, of energy and love. I wonder what the true purpose of life is. What really happens when we die. I don't find it morbid, or even depressing or negative. I find it fascinating, and wildly fantastic. The best part is that we can all have different ideas, different beliefs, but not one of us will know for sure until we get to the other side. There's something curious about that, as if we are meant to continue the search, to never settle. That there is always more to learn, to read, to watch, to understand. What a fabulous puzzle we are born into.