Vatican Regenerative Medicine conference Day 2
(Vatican Radio)
The body can work as its own “pharmacy” with its own tool kit to heal itself –
that’s one of the revolutionary concepts to come out of a Vatican conference on
regenerative medicine and its cultural impact on society.
On day two of the three day conference organized by the Pontifical Council for
Culture and the Stem For Life Foundation, researchers from some of the
world’s leading cancer institutes presented their ground-breaking technologies
in immunotherapy and expressed high hopes that a cure for the all-too-often
deadly disease may be just around the corner.
Need for prevention,
access and affordability
U.S. Vice President Joe
Biden, who lost his son to cancer, addressed participants saying his son’s
doctors told him that just in the last 4-5 years, cancer research has reached a
turning point and that for the first time in history, many disciplines are
working together to bring a cure. Echoing the call of Pope Francis, he said the tens of
thousands of cases of cancer need to be prevented, and patients need access to
affordable treatment. Fewer than 5% of patients end up in clinical
trials.
His voice rising with
emotion, he challenged the scientists and doctors to share their research and
data with each other: “Why do you wait? Do it now!”
Many of the researchers have
begun to do just that thanks to a new approach among donors and philanthropists
who are encouraging them to work in teams and share the data they gather.
Many, as we heard Friday, are already seeing success with immunotherapy - using
the body’s own immune system to attack malignant cells - as well as with
stem cells and combined therapies to treat cancer. Work is also underway
to create and test personalized, patient-specific vaccines that hold the
promise of preventing tumors from ever developing.
Dr. Robin Smith, President
of the Stem For Life Foundation, spoke to Vatican Radio’s Tracey McClure about
the interest in the Vatican meeting…
“Really it’s important for us
to search for the cures and help bring solutions to people who are suffering
around the world and we’re starting to see everyone really focusing on that,”
says Smith.
Over the last five years,
results in cancer trials have been “amazing”
“Immunotherapy, the way that
you can take your immune system and educate it to kill cancer cells or to stop
being over-active and killing good tissue” are just some of the exciting
advances to come to the fore, Smith explains. “We are learning more about
how our body acts and we are learning more how we are able to really use what
we have, what God has given us, to influence our health and cells that are
damaged along the way.”
A cure for cancer is on
the way, need for speedy regulatory approval
“A cure is on the way,” says
Smith. “More effective therapies – not just treating symptoms but
actually treating the underlying cause of their disease - is underway.
It’s just a matter of time and we have to band together to get the regulatory
bodies focused on getting these therapies approved and into the clinic and to
the patients who need them.
Some countries, like
Japan, have been able to speed up the regulatory process.
“They’ve changed some
legislation – if they know [the therapy] is safe and it shows a sign of
efficacy – to allow patients to get the therapy while it continues along the
development program for final approval.” “So we all need to take a look
at that and figure out how to make [the process] quicker. Maybe [the
answer is] it’s not as many patients because these trials are so costly.”
Development can take up to 10-15 years and costs can be upwards of US$ 500
million. “And for people who are sick and suffering through their
lifetime, that’s too long.”
Pope Francis’ words to participants, Smith says, offered a
very “consistent” message.
“It’s the Year of Mercy, he’s
focused on helping people, people’s needs, the focus on children, and you know,
the fact that you have rare diseases that affect very few people – people
aren’t focused on this. It’s not economically feasible to come up with
the therapies to treat those diseases as they take so long and cost so much. So
from a corporation point of view, it’s very difficult. And [the Pope’s]
point is that we need to focus: someone needs to get out there and realize that
there are many millions of people with rare diseases and we have to look for
solutions and people aren’t doing that right now and he wants the world to come
together and focus on those people who need advocates and who need people to
really push on their behalf.”
To find out more about the
conference:
#unitetocure and go to the
website http://www.stemforlifefoundation.com/
(Tracey McClure)
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