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The New York Times reports on a small study where all rectal cancer patients given a certain pill were cancer-free. Though the sample size was tiny (just 18 patients), the study was significant enough to be presented in the New England Journal of Medicine (one of my dad’s two favorite publications he read.)
In the Times article, they said that despite the small sample “the results were unbelievable”. “I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer,” said Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Alan P. Venook, who studies colorectal cancer at the UC, San Francisco, worked on the study. He said he was certain it was the first time ever this had happened, that total remission in every patient is "unheard-of." One woman has been cancer free for two years. The report says the treatment unmasks cancer cells, allowing the immune system to identify and destroy them. The larger point is that it shows what researchers are dealing with and what they’ve discovered today. So, clearly it’s something that they are working for building towards other cancers. Side Note: I know this is *NOT* because of Joe Biden -- but it's worth noting that he has made curing cancer his major issue since he was VP...and has been ridiculed for it by conservatives. But science & research -- and support -- is A Good Thing. Here's the full article. There's a very good and comprehensive article in today’s Washington Post on whether to boost again now or later. You can read it here.
But if you don't want to read the whole thing or can't access the paper, I mainly note this for one particular passage which I found the most interesting. And comforting – “The decision about when, whether and who to boost has also been complicated by imperfect data. A widely quoted CDC study showed that protection against severe illness from three shots waned over four months, from 91 percent to 78 percent. “What was lost in the messaging was that those who had been vaccinated for more than four months in that study were primarily people with poorly functioning immune systems, who typically respond less well to vaccination. When the data was instead limited to people with functioning immune systems, there was little evidence that protection against hospitalization was waning among people 65 and older, according to data presented by Ruth Link-Gelles, part of the CDC’s Epidemiology Task Force at a federal advisory committee meeting this month.”
The show writes that “We don’t want to send the message that criticizing us on Twitter is a ticket to the podcast...but that’s what climate reporter Kendra Pierre-Louis did, and now here she is. Kendra had some issues with our climate episode on Apple TV+, so Jon invited her on for a conversation. And just like our planet, things heated up—insofar as you can call a thoughtful exchange of ideas ‘heated up.’ Jon is also joined by writers Rob Christensen and Tocarra Mallard to talk about Twitter trolls, beard maintenance, and the importance of a steady government job.”
On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest is Woody Hoburg, a former astronaut candidate-in-training – and now officially an astronaut. He and host Peter Sagal talk about how, although he hasn’t been into space yet, he is now assigned to the Artemis mission planned for the moon a couple years away. The conversation is very low-key and charming, as he talks about his plans for getting ready, including if he’s decided what one personal item he’s allowed to bring.
This the full Wait, Wait… broadcast, but you can jump directly to the “Not My Job” segment, it starts around the 18:30 mark.
On this week’s Al Franken podcast, his guests are Andy Slavitt and Laurie Garrett who discuss disturbing new Covid realties, which Al notes “turns out this is harder than we thought.”
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting.    
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