Very Interesting

My sister called yesterday to tell me she has a melanoma on her back/neck area.   She has always had moles, but none of them were cancerous.  My family is actually pretty susceptible to basal cell carcinoma.
Anyhow, she wondered if it could have anything to do with Herpes.   She had gotten complacent and gone off the Acyclovir, but started having nerve problems in her arms.   She ended up going to the dermatologist after a rash broke out on her elbow.    He said that was harmless, but found the suspicious spot during the exam.

So, after hanging up, I did my thing and found this:

Herpes Vaccine Entering Phase 3 Testing For Advanced Melanoma

OncoVEX, owned by BioVex, is being tested by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.  Its Phase 2 trial of OncoVEX had very encouraging results. Though persons with Stage III and Stage IV melanoma generally have very poor prognoses and die within six months to two years after the cancer becomes metastasized, the patients in Phase 2 testing of the drug fared significantly better.
Of the 50 patients involved, 8 patients completely recovered and 4 recovered after surgery and treatment with the OncoVEX vaccine.  Overall survival rate was 58 percent after one year and 52 percent after two years.

The results of Phase 3 are due sometime this fall.   I am really hoping they are good.
Maybe if herpes causes one of the most fatal cancers- instead of just heart attacks and dementia- people will decide it's okay to talk about it.