December Newsletter
Well, it’s December already and only a short while to Christmas and the New Year. It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were basking in sunshine! We seem to have passed quickly through autumn (which gave us some great leaf colours, didn’t it?) and have been thrust into winter with zero temperatures quite quickly. Time flies!
Although Halloween has passed, we thought we would scare you with a photo of some of the Trustees!
So here are four of us at an informal gathering to discuss Fund affairs, in a restaurant at St Pancras International station. No charitable donations were used to pay the bill!
Clockwise from the left is Mike Bridge, John Glees, Les Biggs and Virginia Bates, who never seems to look any older!
But that’s not all we’ve been doing!
Our research at St George’s University of London continues.
Following the work which has been carried out by one of the teams, on the resistance of cancerous cells to the drug Gemzar and various combinations of drugs, we were delighted to see that a random study which combined Gemzar with a non-specific vaccine and also with a vitamin D3 supplement, has shown a survival advantage over Gemzar alone.
Unlike many combinations of drugs used in pancreatic cancer, this one is unique in that it is non-toxic and can be produced for a fraction of the price of alternative combinations. This research is already the basis for further studies in the United States and it is intended to present and publish the results early in the New Year. Watch our web site!
Alongside this, the team found that it appears a drug used to treat anemia combined with the drug Gemzar, boosts the effect of vaccination. This benefit was observed some time ago and has been confirmed in a random study in Norway and Germany.
Both of these results show that the research team has fulfilled one of its main goals – to identify a cheap non-toxic regimen that will greatly improve the quality and length of life in patients with pancreatic cancer. This is great news and full marks to the research team but there is still a long way to go……………..
Our second research team at St George’s has shown that using a reagent (a substance used to detect the presence of another) in combination with celastrol, an ingredient of herbal medicine, can be effective at killing pancreatic cancer cells. This research work continues, alongside research focused on how the human immune system can be adjusted by medical treatment to kill cancerous cells.
And now a commercial……….
Those of you who remember Ralph Bates as an actor (Hammer Films productions of Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Lust for a Vampire, TV series of Poldark and Dear John and theatre productions of Absent Friends and Run for your Wife amongst many more), will be pleased to know that his very first biography has been written and will be available in the New Year.
All profits will come to our Fund.
The biography has been written by biographer Christopher Gullo (Cgullo@juno.com) with the full cooperation of and with contributions from Virginia and her family.
Watch our web site for details in the New Year!
Many and grateful thanks to all of you for your generous support and phenomenal energy in supporting our Fund. We could not do what we do and could not have achieved so much without your support and as you know, we do not waste your money on frivolous glossy advertising and fat cat salaries and expenses. This Newsletter is a good example!
Seasonal greetings and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to all of you.
The Trustees.
December 2014.
