
Ask HN: What can I / we do to help fight cancer? - lsiunsuex
I&#x27;m not a doctor; I don&#x27;t pretend to be one.<p>But it infuriates me that a friends life is in someone else&#x27;s hands and he has to take his doctors word for his treatment.<p>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&#x27;ve decided (yesterday) on a combined chemotherapy &#x2F; 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.<p>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&#x27;t remember where he was yesterday in Virginia.<p>My questions are, I guess:<p>1 - is there anything I can do other then moral support and help with life tasks? (driving to clinic, household tasks, etc...)<p>2 - is folding at home still a thing? Have any results come from it yet?<p>3 - IF Cleveland hasn&#x27;t run his tumor&#x27;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?<p>4 - Is anyone working on projects along these lines I can possible contribute to? Either code or ?<p>5 - ???
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PaulHoule
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

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

