[ RadSafe ] Re: Radiation induced immune response DETERS spread of cancer

[John Jacobus]

Dr. Long,
Your preferences are your choices.  I think that
researchers who study cancer should not be discounted
even if they do not studies do not align with your
beliefs.  Obviously you need to keep up with the
research literate.  Macrophages are not dendritic
cells, and as a physician I would think that you would
know that.  My point is that the biology of cancer is
very complex and treatments are not as simplistic as
you think.

Again, you can only quote the speculations of Dr.
Chen, who even acknowledges that his work was never
followed up.  

--- howard long <hflong at pacbell.net> wrote:

> Prof Dietrich Harder of U Goettingen describes the
> mechanism recently on rad-sci:
>    
>   "- production of apoptotic cells in the epithelia
> at low doses, supported by the bystander effect.
>  Mediation of an anti-inflammatory immune response,
> triggered by the phagocytosis of the apoptotic cells
> by dendritic cells, e.g. the Langerhans cells. This
> process can be called a modification of the immune
> response rather than an enhancement of the immune
> response. The word "enhancement" however is not
> incorrect when referred to the enhanced maturation
> of immature dendritic cells and the enhanced
> activation of anti-inflammatory cytokines.
>  The applied doses are so low that a complete annual
> treatment course does not more than double the
> normal natural radiation exposition of the human
> body, when 
> expressed in terms of the effective dose per year"
>    
>   I was referred to this by Prof Feinendigan who,
> with Prof Pollycove has done the most in this area,
> as in The Biologic and Epidemiologic Basis for
> Radiation Hormesis, presented to and critiqed by
> Doctors for Disaster Preparedness.
>    
>   Far from worsening cancer patients, low dose
> radiaion
>   stimulation of apoptosis, phagocytosis and the
> immune system generally,  brings healing - NOT the
> more rapid cancer growth implied by this Jacobus
> selection, as could be found in numerous references
> through Muckerheides compendium.
>   For prevention, see,
>    Is Chronic Radiation anEffective Prophylaxis
> Against Cancer? 
>   Chen, WL, Luan, YC, et al Journal Am Physicians
> and Surgeons 9:1:6-10
>    
>   Howard Long MD MPH
> 
> John Jacobus <crispy_bird at yahoo.com> wrote:
>   One of the arguements used to tout the benefits of
> low
> dose ionizing radiation is that it enhances immune
> response. I thought the following was interesting.
> -----------------------
> >From the NYT Health section
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/health/15meta.html?ei=5070&en=43242bd64ec6e9b0&ex=1156651200&pagewanted=all
> 
> Scientists Begin to Grasp the Stealthy Spread of
> Cancer 
> 
> By LAURIE TARKAN
> Published: August 15, 2006
> 
> . . .
> Researchers are looking at a number of events that
> occur in the microenvironment that give a cancer
> cell
> a leg up as soon as it arrives. These changes
> involve
> both normal cells that reside in that tissue and the
> body’s roaming immune cells. 
> 
> “The tumor cells co-opt these cells to act in a way
> that’s conducive for the growth of the metastasis,”
> Dr. Massagué said.
> 
> There is evidence, for example, that a type of white
> blood cell, the macrophage, may help initiate
> colonization. It was once thought that high numbers
> of
> macrophages found in metastatic cancer colonies were
> there to do battle with the cancer. Now it is
> believed
> that they somehow promote factors that help tumors
> progress. Other normal cells are believed to make
> enzymes that loosen the cellular structure of the
> new
> host organ, making room for tumor cells to
> proliferate. 
> . . .
> 
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++
> >From an article about physicians doing clinical
> studies: 
> 
> "It was just before an early morning meeting, and I
> was really trying to get to the bagels, but I
> couldn't help overhearing a conversation between one
> of my statistical colleagues and a surgeon.
> 
> Statistician: "Oh, so you have already calculated
> the P value?"
> 
> Surgeon: "Yes, I used multinomial logistic
> regression."
> 
> Statistician: "Really? How did you come up with
> that?"
> 
> Surgeon: "Well, I tried each analysis on the SPSS
> drop-down menus, and that was the one that gave the
> smallest P value"."
> 
> -- John
> John Jacobus, MS
> Certified Health Physicist
> e-mail: crispy_bird at yahoo.com
> 
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> 


+++++++++++++++++++
>From an article about physicians doing clinical studies: 

"It was just before an early morning meeting, and I was really trying to get to the bagels, but I couldn't help overhearing a conversation between one of my statistical colleagues and a surgeon.

Statistician: "Oh, so you have already calculated the P value?"

Surgeon: "Yes, I used multinomial logistic regression."

Statistician: "Really? How did you come up with that?"

Surgeon: "Well, I tried each analysis on the SPSS drop-down menus, and that was the one that gave the smallest P value"."

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com

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