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CultCrossPollination t1_ivxedlg wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Experimental cancer vaccine shows promise in animal studies by BoundariesAreFun

Because we need to know for sure it works in humans. And how much, and in what conditions. Otherwise our application of medicines becomes totally random and divorced from knowledge and will cause unnecessary suffering. It is essential to have minimally a double blind controlled clinical trial with the new treatment to determine the effectiveness.

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Environmental_Cake97 t1_ivy72t8 wrote

I wouldn’t want to be in the placebo arm of this one. Dying anyway? Targets the tumor macro environment to make engineered T cells I’m already getting more effective?

The worst it could do, the very worst, is have the opposite effect of that intended. It’s a risk I’d be happy to take.

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CultCrossPollination t1_ivyqawb wrote

In these kind of clinical trials they always use the standard of care medicine as "negative control". placebo is considered unethical. The patients involved are always considered "end of care", so previous treatments have failed to contain an endless growth of the tumors.

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Rainbow334dr t1_ivyk2xb wrote

You can still do any test you want and have all the studies you want but people who are months away from dying should be able to take the chance. Better than sending them to some witch doctor that has no chance of working.

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