“I keep getting the arguments from, for instance, Dr. Otis Brawley, head of the American Cancer Society that “we are making great strides and we are extending life. ”Let’s examine that statement. Extending life… all right, let’s look at the great “strides” made toward pancreatic cancer. The drug Gemzar is touted as the panacea for this deadly disease. Gemzar has been compared to the previous “best” chemo for pancreatic cancer and the median survival improved from 4.2 months to only 5.7 months. About one extra month of life for this expensive drug? Not one single patient out of 126 in the study survived longer than 19 months. But Gemzar has been considered such an advance that the FDA approved it and now it’s a billion-dollar industry. It’s used all over the world. This is considered a major “advance”?”
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Suzanne Somers is kinda crazy, so crazy that she’s written a book full of her interviews with doctors about cancer. But for all her quackery, I am in agreement with her about Gemzar. There is essentially just one chemo solution for people with advanced pancreatic cancer, and it only works for a very small percentage of patients. Gemzar (paired with Tarceva) did nothing for my mom (except inflict horrible side effects). I know we’re talking about people suffering from Stage 4 of a brutal cancer, but still… I wish my mother had had more options. She lived 8 months.
[November is National Pancreatic Cancer Month. Learn more at Pancan.org]
November 09, 2009, 11:23am Comments








![I have a serious soft spot in my heart for Killgore. Last year’s run of shows pulled me out of the massive depression I had been in for over a year following my mom’s death. It reminded me why I loved performing and comedy, and how lucky I am to do these things with an amazing bunch of hilarious and supportive people.
This year I’m in a much better place mentally, and just got to sit back and enjoy the madness of getting “naked close” to peeps while covered in chocolate sauce.
I’m really grateful for both experiences.
[Photo: the super-talented Ari Scott, of course]](http://11.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ksg3i7Qr501qz7qexo1_500.jpg)