Looks Who's Counting!! ME! Jim Breitfeller Progress in Melanoma Therapy!!

Just to shed some Positve Vibs.Carepages

Ricksroad
In Rick’s case, Rick’s kill T cell were already active but the second signal (cell to cell ...protein to protein) was weak or not there.
The infusion of IL-2 started the cell to cell communication.
It took a while for the Killer T cells to overcome the Beast.

That is what I believed happen.

Carepages
cp: Ricksroad
Ricksroad
yep...that's what I said...
Posted Dec 29, 2008 6:35pm
I'm going to try and type, but at the moment I am shaking and crying so hard I can hardly breathe. I'm happy to say it's a "good cry" for the first time in I don't know how long!

IT'S WORKING!!! PLEASE READ THIS AND PICTURE ME DANCING AROUND AND SCREAMING MY HEAD OFF! WOOO-HOOOO!!!!

We just got a call from Dr. Daniels and I still can't believe what I heard. I had to write down some things he said because I honestly started getting dizzy. He said "you're having a tremendous response to the treatment." Yep...he said "tremendous"! Where the description of Rick's liver has been "it's riddled with disease" he now says that it's 70% gone! Yep...he said "gone"!! He said there is still a little bit in the lungs (but if you remember that's where the big ones were) Yep...I said "were"!! He also said that the bones (spine, pelvis and femur) used to be categorized as "not healthy" but now they are "not great, but scarring over" which means healing! Yep...healing.

11/1/08 I think we are on to something???????Posted Nov 1, 2008 6:53am
Emillia/and Bill, you sent me this message: Carepages!!!!!
Bkent1013
Posted 16 hours ago
by Emilia/Bill Kent
Hi Jim~~~~~Bill did the IL-2 which shut his kidneys down, Bill is currently on a drug called Ipilimumab or MDX-010, CTLA-4 for short. It is not FDA approved, (trials) but from what I've read it has gotten "rave" reviews! We are from Illinois and Luthern General Hospital is where Bill gets his treatments every 12 weeks. His tumors have either dissapeared or shrunk considerably! He also is Stage IV. Don't know what you're on or trying to get but might be worth researching this.

And Then there is me!!!!!I did (JIMMY B)
CTLA-4 then IL-2.
jimmybreitfeller
What if the combination of the two thrapies have jump started our immune system?
So I took it apon myself to to a little research and this is what I came up with. I believe it all makes sense. I still may be over simplifying the actual process but I am not a biochemist. So Here goes:

Dendritic cells (DCs) are immune cells and form part of the our immune system. Their main function is to process antigen material and present it on the surface to other cells of the immune system, thus functioning as Antigen-Presenting Cells (APC).

The dendritic cells are constantly in communication with other cells in the body. This communication can take the form of direct cell-to-cell contact based on the interaction of cell-surface proteins. An example of this includes the interaction of the receptor B7 of the dendritic cell with CD28 present on the lymphocyte. However, the cell-cell interaction can also take place at a distance via cytokines. These components of the immune system communicate with one another by exchanging chemical messengers. These proteins are secreted by cells and act on other cells to coordinate an appropriate immune response.

Cytokines include a diverse assortment of interleukins, interferons, and growth factors.One cytokine, interleukin 2 (IL-2), triggers the immune system to produce T cells. IL-2’s immunity-boosting properties have traditionally made it a promising treatment for several illnesses which include Hepatitis C and Melanoma.

There are several steps to activation of the immune system against a foreign molecule. The T cell receptor must first interact with the MHC molecule. The T cell receptor or TCR is a molecule found on the surface of T lymphocytes (or T cells) that is, in general, responsible for recognizing antigens bound to Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules. MHC the most gene-dense region of the Human genome and plays an important role in the immune system, autoimmunity.

This first interaction involves the CD4 or CD8 proteins which form a complex with the CD3 protein to bind to the MHC molecule of the (APC). Antigen-presenting cell This is also called "Signal 1" and its main purpose is T cell activation.

However, this is insufficient for producing a T cell response by itself. In fact, lack of further stimulatory signals sends the T cell into anergy. Anergy is a term in immunobiology that describes a lack of reaction by the body's defense mechanisms to foreign substances.

The Second costimulatory signal necessary to continue the immune response can come from B7-CD28 and CD40-CD40L interactions. The primary role of the B7 proteins is to give a second signal to the T cell. The B7 protein/receptor is present on the Antigen-presenting cell and is able to interact with the CD28 receptor on the T cell surface; this is also known as "Signal 2". There are other activation signals which play a role in immune responses.

On these T cells there is are family receptors whose job is downregulate the T cell activation so the immune system maintains metabolic equilibrium so the immune system doesn’t start an autoimmune response and cause it to attack itself. One of these receptors is Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen (CTLA4).

It was hypothesized back in the 1980’s that if you replaced the CTLA4 with Anti-CTLA4 that it might block the B7 receptor causing an enhancement of the T-cell activation, leading to a more robust antitumor immune response.

It was shown in mice with a disrupted CTLA-4 genes that their immune response ran unabated causing autoimmunity which was fatal.

It was also shown that the anti-CTLA-4 antibodies had a greater affinity to CTLA-4 than the B7 receptor. So by doing the CTLA-4 Therapy, it allowed signal 1 to become active.

So in the presents of the CTLA-4 antibody Therapy, I my case, we may have extended the antitumor response of the T-cells. This left Signal 1 active.

We then, hit the immune system with High dose of IL-2. This must have stimulated the cell to cell communication (Signal 2) causing the immune response to kick in against the foreign molecule (The Tumor)

AS YOU GUESSED IT, I MUST HAVE JUMP STARTED OUR IMMUNE SYSTEMS!!!!!!

Bottom Line Is if the IL-2 doesn't work, you might want to try CTLA-4
I don't know if CTLA-4 is available, The last I heard it was in short supply.

Take Care
The cup Is AWAYS half FULL.

Jimmy B