“Dr James Hull should have died years ago. Over the past decade, the 59-year-old retired dentist, multimillionaire and father of four has been diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer and skin cancer.

His three eldest children were still infants when he was told in 2010 that he was unlikely to make it through the nine-hour operation to remove the vast tumour from his intestine.

A year later, in October 2011, another large tumour was discovered in his pancreas, and he was again told to put his affairs in order and start saying his goodbyes. Pancreatic cancer has a mortality rate of 94 per cent within five years of diagnosis.

Seven years later, after secondary tumours were found in his liver, he turned down a transplant even though doctors told him it was the best chance of saving his life.

‘I couldn’t face any more surgery and I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to back myself to beat it,’ he says.

It was a good bet. Today, James is fit and happy, a rare long-term survivor of metastatic (spreading) cancer.

It seems that every time cancer strikes, his white blood cells —known as T-cells and a crucial part of the immune system — aggressively attack his tumours.

His body’s ability to strike back is far beyond what his medical treatment could have achieved and is so extreme, so unusual, that both James and his doctors want to understand how and why, so that knowledge could help others with cancer.

‘If there is something in me that can help people, I knew I was morally obliged to do everything I could,’ he says.

So since October 2018 a team of leading cancer and immunology specialists from six British universities have co-operated in laboratory studies using James’s blood cells. Their initial findings herald what may lead to the biggest breakthrough in cancer therapy for decades.

For James’s ‘super-charged T- cells’ not only recognise, attack and kill his cancer cells, but also, in the laboratory, do the same to cancer cells taken from other patients suffering from pancreatic, liver, breast, colon cancers and melanoma. As Professor Andrew Sewell, research director of the Institute of Infection and Immunity at Cardiff University School of Medicine, who is involved in the study, puts it: ‘James is not normal. He is not normal at all.’

In simple terms, while T-cells are good at finding and killing infected cells, cancers can create environments that are hostile to T-cells — subduing their function or starving them of nutrition.

Researchers believe that establishing why James’s T-cells are able to thwart the best efforts of cancer cells may lead to groundbreaking new therapies for cancer.

‘It is not hype to suggest that we are at the beginning of an immune therapy revolution,’ says Daniel M. Davis, professor of immunology at Manchester University and another member of the research team…”

https://mol.im/a/7926803

Much more about this interesting man follows.

If his immune system is so good at fighting cancer cells, why did he develop clinically significant malignancies that prompted treatment in the first place?

Maybe his super T-cells are the result of his cancer? Maybe some type of mutation occurred? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger kinda reaction going on?

He’s Deadpool. Cut off a hand and see if it grows back.

Seriously, if all this pans out, that’s pretty amazing.

I hope Ruthie B.Ginsberg doesn't have his genes.

X-Man!

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Yay! Three responses to the original post before we get a totally unrelated political comment.

Well, perhaps it's a related topic. Without getting political, the women does seem to have an amazing ability to fight off cancer. Perhaps her situation is related to this guys. In other words, his case may be rare, but maybe not unique.

If this research does actually produce a cure none of us will ever see any benefit from it. Because if Cancer were actually curable a HUGE GIANT facet of the Medical Industry will get flushed down the toilet with a loss of many many trillions of dollars.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Well, perhaps it's a related topic.

They both live in affluent first world countries as well as both having cancer—as is true of millions of other people—so we could add that in to the possible relevance, I suppose.

In fact, of course, it was clearly intended to be not a comment about the ability of women in general to fight off cancer, but to express the wish that one specific, highly-visible and highly-influential woman whose actions can have profound political consequences will not have that unusual ability to fight off cancer. The statement was, “I hope …,” not, “I wonder if ….” I would have to abandon all pretense of having any ability whatsoever of understanding the motives of others in order to believe otherwise.

I was commenting about something that has been criticized many times in the past, but now that I’ve learned my lesson I won’t make the same mistake again. I also apologize to yanici for drawing unwarranted attention to his post.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Yay! Three responses to the original post before we get a totally unrelated political comment.

Well, perhaps it's a related topic. Without getting political, the women does seem to have an amazing ability to fight off cancer. Perhaps her situation is related to this guys. In other words, his case may be rare, but maybe not unique.

First off, anybody that has been in a fight with cancer as I have and many others here, would never make a statement like that. I wouldn't wish that on anyone over a difference in politics. Secondly, if she has the same ability to fight it naturally like the dentist then that would be remarkable and worth further research. At my age, I'm not expecting to see a cure in my remaining lifetime, but I do hope for it for my granddaughters and their kids sake.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Well, perhaps it's a related topic.

They both live in affluent first world countries as well as both having cancer—as is true of millions of other people—so we could add that in to the possible relevance, I suppose.

In fact, of course, it was clearly intended to be not a comment about the ability of women in general to fight off cancer, but to express the wish that one specific, highly-visible and highly-influential woman whose actions can have profound political consequences will not have that unusual ability to fight off cancer. I would have to abandon all pretense of having any ability whatsoever of understanding the motives of others in order to believe otherwise.

I was commenting about something that has been criticized many times in the past, but now that I’ve learned my lesson I won’t make the same mistake again. I also apologize to yanici for drawing unwarranted attention to his post.

I'm not obtuse to that. It was obviously a purely political post. I'm simply pointing out that she may in actuality have similar attributes as this guy.

quote:

If this research does actually produce a cure none of us will ever see any benefit from it. Because if Cancer were actually curable a HUGE GIANT facet of the Medical Industry will get flushed down the toilet with a loss of many many trillions of dollars.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
That was a pretty cynical remark. The medical industry has its hands full with heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. There are plenty of disease processes to treat, and more than enough work to go around.