Ask HN: What can I / we do to help fight cancer?

2 points by lsiunsuex ↗ HN
I'm not a doctor; I don't pretend to be one.

But it infuriates me that a friends life is in someone else's hands and he has to take his doctors word for his treatment.

Long story short - what were benign tumors have started to grow again; few in the base of his skull and a few in his spine. Due to their location, they are in-operable and after months of MRI scans and tests, they've decided (yesterday) on a combined chemotherapy / breast cancer drug treatment. The doctors have said this combination is highly experimental and has had a 44% success rate over the last few years - this option was chosen over focused radiation as it appears the tumors may be spreading.

I remember reading IBM is doing great things with the Watson super computer regarding oncology - Cleveland Clinic is on the list of participants and I can't remember where he was yesterday in Virginia.

My questions are, I guess:

1 - is there anything I can do other then moral support and help with life tasks? (driving to clinic, household tasks, etc...)

2 - is folding at home still a thing? Have any results come from it yet?

3 - IF Cleveland hasn't run his tumor's DNA through Watson - is it even remotely possible for me to obtain a copy of his records and obtain access to Watson and do it myself?

4 - Is anyone working on projects along these lines I can possible contribute to? Either code or ?

5 - ???

2 comments

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Cleveland Clinic is pretty good.

In the last few years there has been a "Cambrian Explosion" in targeted cancer treatments, and it makes a lot of sense to investigate clinical trials you can participate in if you have a difficult case

The decision made yesterday is just that - a clinical trial - so that is under way - "their best bet" so much as he told us