A 61-year-old Australian woman, who was exposed to asbestos as a machinist and when washing her son's work clothes while he produced asbestos gaskets, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in September, 2002. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos.
While waiting for chemotherapy and an experimental treatment, the cancer began to regress and the woman felt well enough pass on the treatments altogether. The doctor found that by December the cancer had decreased in size, and within two years, a CT scan showed that the mesothelioma had virtually disappeared.
Six years later, the woman remains cancer-free. While it is rare for cancer to disappear on its own, there are similar documented cases for other types of cancer.
Roger Allen, PhD, a Thoracic and Sleep Physician at Wesley Medical Centre in Brisbane, Australia suggests that patients and their doctors should view this as promising news with the potential for researchers to find ways to capture the ability of the immune system to fight off the disease and to find a cure.
没有评论:
发表评论