Cancer patients test chemo on mice

Mouse avatars bring new hope in cancer

17/12/2014

In the US, cancer patients have the opportunity to get their chemotherapy prior to so-called „Mice avatars“ to test. Many of those affected hope for new treatment options and avoid unnecessary physical strain and ineffective medication. But the method is very expensive and does not guarantee success. Therefore, experts usually still recommend standard therapy.

Patients hope for more control over their own body
A new trend from the US is currently giving cancer patients hope to regain more control over their own bodies in the future. As reported by the US news channel News9.com, in the United States now apparently the ability to test their own chemo in advance of mice. What may at first seem like an idea from a science fiction film might actually help to improve the treatment of cancer and avoid unnecessary physical strain.

Costs of more than $ 10,000 must be borne by yourself
As the transmitter further reports, the cost of the tests in the amount of $ 10,000 (about 8,000 euros) or more would have to be borne by the patients themselves, as the insurance would not pay for this. Nevertheless, hundreds of people have their own in recent months „Mouse avatars“ created to test the cancer treatment. „What I do is a personalized cancer treatment. That's the trend of the future“, so Eileen Youtie from Miami opposite the transmitter. Youtie uses mice to better control the treatment of her difficult-to-treat breast cancer: „Part of it is trying to exclude those chemos that are not helping with me. I do not want to waste time using them and poisoning my body with them“, Youtie continues.

Tests do not guarantee success
The central idea of ​​the mouse experiments is therefore to find out which therapy works best in the individual case and which have the least side effects. But there would be a guarantee of success despite the high price, according to Dr. med. Len Lichtenfeld from the American Cancer Society does not. Instead, there is not enough scientific evidence to say how well the new method works - so, according to the experts, it should also be considered as „highly experimental“ News9.com continues to report.

Normally, patients should continue to rely on standard treatment
In this context, experts recommend many sufferers continue a classic cancer therapy: „I see that the method is promising, but it is very time consuming and very expensive. For the average patient, therefore, standard care will continue to be the right path, "said cancer researcher Alana Welm to the broadcaster, a scientist from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation who recently delivered a lecture on mice as part of a breast cancer symposium in San Antonio However, many sufferers would put new hope in the mice and therefore have three to five drugs tested for a price of $ 10,000 to $ 12,000, the medical director of „Champions Oncology“, Dr. Angela Davies.

In some cases, life has already been saved
In some cases, however, the investigations could actually have saved lives. For example, Yaron Panov, a 59-year-old patient from Toronto who had been diagnosed four years earlier with a rare malignant tumor of the soft tissue (liposarcoma). As News9.com writes, the tests showed that the previously prescribed drug could not help it - but it may already be a remedy for colorectal cancer. „It had worked in the mice, so I knew it would work for me as well“, so Panov opposite the transmitter. His cancer has been in remission since then. (No)