This is an interesting contribution to Jamie's blog by Dr Snyderman talking about the potential for cancer treatment of continuing research into human gammaretroviruses.
I hope (and not just for our sake) that researchers will have the courage to continue in this area, despite the attacks.
http://treatingxmrv.blogspot.com/2011/12/olive-branch.html?commentPage=2
It is at Jan 6, 10.22
Jamies blog is getting clogged by repititious contributions from some posters so I thought I would highlight this comment from Dr Snyderman as it is easily missed.
Michael Snyderman MD said...
Dear Scientists,
I am hopeful that we can collaborate. I realize that much more data needs to be generated and that is what your laboratories have to offer. I am not a virologist or an immunologist and although I wish I was, I am not a scientist. However as a physician I have learned to be a detective to understand why my patients are sick, I try to connect the dots. I believe that our retrovirus participates in many disease processes, not just CFS. I am using the word participate rather that causes because human disease processes are very complex and multifactorial. The dots that I am trying to connect have been known for at least 20-30 years. First we accept that retroviruses that cause human disease can infect T-lymphocytes and monocytes. A search of the literature shows that monocytosis is often present in cancer and autoimmune disease and that clonal T-cell expansion is present in cancer, autoimmune disease and neuroimmune disease. I have monocytosis and a T-cell clonal expansion and they go up with worsening of my B-cell leukemia and decrease when my leukemia responds to ARVs. The rates of increase and decrease are different for each cell type.
We are at a juncture where we can go forward with these clues or bury the concepts.
My point is that with so many sick people with cancer, autoimmune disease and neuroimmune disease that we have in reality helped minimally, why not go forward? We will not cure these diseases by documenting the presence of a retrovirus and treating the retrovirus, but we will improve quality and quantity of life. This has been my own personal experience with antiretroviral therapy.
My motivations are pure. I am too old to benefit from fame and fortune, although those of you who make the discoveries are likely to reap these rewards. My motivation is to strike a blow against these cruel disease processes that have claimed the lives of my patients, my friends and my family. And of course, I would like to help myself.
I was asked about my personal results that were generated by Dr. Mikovits to whom I gave written consent to publish and post. Her slides are now in the public domain and if you put X Rx and Ottawa into Google, you will go directly to the slides. I assume I am patient 3058 as the graph of my CLL parameters is the next slide. There may be more of my data in other slides, but because of the legal issues I cant discuss it with Dr. Mikovits so I dont really know. If you wish to contact me privately, here is my email: mcs@buffalo.edu.
I hope (and not just for our sake) that researchers will have the courage to continue in this area, despite the attacks.
http://treatingxmrv.blogspot.com/2011/12/olive-branch.html?commentPage=2
It is at Jan 6, 10.22
Jamies blog is getting clogged by repititious contributions from some posters so I thought I would highlight this comment from Dr Snyderman as it is easily missed.
Michael Snyderman MD said...
Dear Scientists,
I am hopeful that we can collaborate. I realize that much more data needs to be generated and that is what your laboratories have to offer. I am not a virologist or an immunologist and although I wish I was, I am not a scientist. However as a physician I have learned to be a detective to understand why my patients are sick, I try to connect the dots. I believe that our retrovirus participates in many disease processes, not just CFS. I am using the word participate rather that causes because human disease processes are very complex and multifactorial. The dots that I am trying to connect have been known for at least 20-30 years. First we accept that retroviruses that cause human disease can infect T-lymphocytes and monocytes. A search of the literature shows that monocytosis is often present in cancer and autoimmune disease and that clonal T-cell expansion is present in cancer, autoimmune disease and neuroimmune disease. I have monocytosis and a T-cell clonal expansion and they go up with worsening of my B-cell leukemia and decrease when my leukemia responds to ARVs. The rates of increase and decrease are different for each cell type.
We are at a juncture where we can go forward with these clues or bury the concepts.
My point is that with so many sick people with cancer, autoimmune disease and neuroimmune disease that we have in reality helped minimally, why not go forward? We will not cure these diseases by documenting the presence of a retrovirus and treating the retrovirus, but we will improve quality and quantity of life. This has been my own personal experience with antiretroviral therapy.
My motivations are pure. I am too old to benefit from fame and fortune, although those of you who make the discoveries are likely to reap these rewards. My motivation is to strike a blow against these cruel disease processes that have claimed the lives of my patients, my friends and my family. And of course, I would like to help myself.
I was asked about my personal results that were generated by Dr. Mikovits to whom I gave written consent to publish and post. Her slides are now in the public domain and if you put X Rx and Ottawa into Google, you will go directly to the slides. I assume I am patient 3058 as the graph of my CLL parameters is the next slide. There may be more of my data in other slides, but because of the legal issues I cant discuss it with Dr. Mikovits so I dont really know. If you wish to contact me privately, here is my email: mcs@buffalo.edu.