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posted by martyb on Thursday January 10 2019, @09:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-clan-Macleod dept.

The anti-cancer drug dasatnib in combination with quercetin being trialed for safety against lung fibrosis has shown impressive anti-aging results.

Participants in the trial were ~70 years old and suffering from pulmonary fibrosis a debilitating and eventually fatal disease. After the trial, 100% of the study showed improvement

participants were able to walk faster, get up from a chair more quickly and scored better in ability tests.

The benefit is a result of removing 'zombie cells' from the body.

Senescent cells - also known as zombie cells - are not completely dead so are not cleared out by the body, but are too damaged to repair tissue or carry out normal functions. Unable to repair itself or clear out the waste, the body gradually deteriorates.

Previously animal studies have shown that removing these cells reverses the ageing process, extends lifespan, and restores lost youth.

Better yet, it does not sound like a pill every day for the rest of your life sort of thing

“It has a hit-and-run effect,” added Dr Kirkland. “The drug starts working quickly and we would ideally like to be able to give it just once a month.”

Of course increasing the cost 30x should nicely take care of that drawback.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 11 2019, @12:48PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 11 2019, @12:48PM (#785001)
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 11 2019, @03:41PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 11 2019, @03:41PM (#785066)

    As I expected. You can't really tell from that data, it would be interesting to look further but I'm pretty sure I know what I'll find (various issues with comparing changing populations in the 9% of the US they consider).

    "Population‐based cancer incidence data in the United States have been collected by the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program since 1973 and by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) since 1995. The SEER program is the only source for historic population‐based incidence data. Long‐term (1975–2015) incidence and survival trends were based on data from the 9 oldest SEER areas (Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, New Mexico, Utah, and the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Detroit, San Francisco–Oakland, and Seattle–Puget Sound), representing approximately 9% of the US population."

    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21551 [wiley.com]

    So, looks like the headline chart[1] is only using data from the 9 original SEER regions (Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, New Mexico, Utah, and the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Detroit, San Francisco–Oakland, and Seattle–Puget Sound). Also, some new data source was added in 1995, which is about when we see that peak in incidence/mortality. So we have some room for systematically biasing the data here, especially when we consider the various pitfalls of "age-adjustment".

    They also say much of the mid-1990s spike in incidence for males was due to detection of asymptomatic prostate cancer:

    "Cancer incidence patterns reflect trends in behaviors associated with cancer risk and changes in medical practice, such as the use of cancer screening tests. The volatility in incidence for males reflects rapid changes in prostate cancer incidence rates, which spiked in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Fig. 3) due to a surge in the detection of asymptomatic disease as a result of widespread prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) testing among previously unscreened men"

    [1] https://wol-prod-cdn.literatumonline.com/cms/attachment/479916e1-e899-4965-a35d-7517620064cf/caac21551-fig-0002-m.jp [literatumonline.com]