A few thoughts….
First, how comparable is an MRI to a PET scan? From what I’ve read, all cancer screenings have issues. I think they all have to be surrogate tests, unless it’s a clearly visible tumor. So in those surrogate tests, can you really compare one test to another, with any sort of accuracy?
Second, if you are going to risk a clinical trial, make sure it is a later phase trial, like 2 or 3. Phase 1 trials are insanely risky, as they are trying to figure out what people can tolerate from a medication or treatment. Phase 1 trials always carry the most chance of injury or death, and least upside. Phase 2 and 3, less so, but remember…. it’s still a test. I think doing nothing would be a better option in 90-95% percent of cases. Seeing as that AVA6000 trial is a Phase 1, I would run as far away from that trial as humanly possible. Check out this quote from the “Purpose” section-
The purpose of this study is to find the highest dose of the investigational drug AVA6000 that can be given safely in people with advanced solid tumors that are not responding to treatment.
Since they are “finding” the highest dose that can be safely given, that means, by definition, some or all participants are GUARANTEED to get an UNSAFE DOSE. Because, how else do you find a limit?
Third, if you are going to pursue genetic markers or oncogenes, do you believe they play some role, any role, in cancer? After learning so much from Peat and Haidut, I believe that genes play little to no role in cancer, and that any treatments based upon them are a dead end. I think doing nothing may be a better option than this, but depending on how long the treatment has been around, it’s probably safer than some of the clinical trials being run. Then again, handling a rattlesnake may be safer than some of the phase 1 clinical trials out there.
Lastly, don’t know anything about Histotripsy, but if it’s using ultrasound, that sounds like the safest and most promising of any option. Peat mentioned a few times that ultrasound tests themselves not only were generally safe, but usually beneficial to health in general.
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