{"id":103919,"date":"2018-05-24T00:59:05","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T07:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=103919"},"modified":"2018-05-22T15:02:47","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T22:02:47","slug":"i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html","title":{"rendered":"I used to work at Fred Hutch, so this story tickles me no end"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Hutch Closes in on a cancer cure<\/a><\/p>\n

THE MAGIC MICROSCOPIC particles that might change the world \u2014 and in the process, permanently burnish Seattle\u2019s spot on the big, ascent-of-man scientific map \u2014 are, at this very moment, being carted about on a medical campus one short traffic jam away from the shores of Lake Union. Their mode of transport: a thermo-molded plastic lunch cooler, of the sort one might nab at Walmart to carry a baloney sandwich and some freshly cured herring out for a day of salmon fishing on Puget Sound.<\/p>\n

The little coolers are ubiquitous at the\u00a0Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center<\/a>, which four decades ago pioneered a groundbreaking treatment for blood cancers \u2014 the bone-marrow transplant, now an older science that still saves lives, but not without harrowing side effects.<\/p>\n

What has changed in cancer research since then? Almost everything. But the research growing from those transplants is blossoming today into what could be, at last, actual cures for common cancers that have long stood as irrevocable death sentences for millions of people.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0The backstory behind \u2018The Hutch is closing in on a cure for cancer\u2019<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Some of the new treatments \u2014 collectively, \u201cimmunotherapies<\/a>\u201d that unleash the body\u2019s own immune system to seek out and destroy cancer cells \u2014 have shown mind-blowing results in early testing on blood cancers.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0one ongoing trial<\/a>, patients with a leukemia that had resisted previously known treatments achieved a remission rate of 93 percent \u2014 a result that even seasoned researchers at The Hutch called \u201castounding,\u201d particularly given the treatment\u2019s relative lack of the destructive side effects of traditional radiation and chemotherapy. The weapon of choice \u2014 re-engineered human\u00a0\u201cCAR-T\u201d<\/a>\u00a0cells \u2014 did its work more efficiently and completely\u00a0than even its creators<\/a>\u00a0had dared dream.<\/p>\n

During that trial, the oncologist for one terminally ill patient phoned a veteran Fred Hutchinson researcher,\u00a0Dr. Stanley Riddell<\/a>, less than a week after the administration of a single dose of these super cells, confessing astonishment. The stricken patient, plagued by pounds of malignant tumors in the lymph nodes of his neck, said he felt the deadly tumors \u201cmelting away like ice cubes.\u201d The treatments are still being tweaked, but early results have left usually reserved researchers borderline giddy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hutch Closes in on a cancer cure THE MAGIC MICROSCOPIC particles that might change the world \u2014 and in the process, permanently burnish Seattle\u2019s spot on the big, ascent-of-man scientific map \u2014 are, at this very moment, being carted about on a medical campus one short traffic jam away from the shores of Lake […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5,156],"class_list":["post-103919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-inside-the-soviet-of-washington","tag-science"],"yoast_head":"\nI used to work at Fred Hutch, so this story tickles me no end<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Hutch Closes in on a cancer cure THE MAGIC MICROSCOPIC particles that might change the world \u2014 and in the process, permanently burnish Seattle\u2019s spot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I used to work at Fred Hutch, so this story tickles me no end\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Hutch Closes in on a cancer cure THE MAGIC MICROSCOPIC particles that might change the world \u2014 and in the process, permanently burnish Seattle\u2019s spot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-24T07:59:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-22T22:02:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html\",\"name\":\"I used to work at Fred Hutch, so this story tickles me no end\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-24T07:59:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-22T22:02:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"The Hutch Closes in on a cancer cure THE MAGIC MICROSCOPIC particles that might change the world \u2014 and in the process, permanently burnish Seattle\u2019s spot\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I used to work at Fred Hutch, so this story tickles me no end\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I used to work at Fred Hutch, so this story tickles me no end","description":"The Hutch Closes in on a cancer cure THE MAGIC MICROSCOPIC particles that might change the world \u2014 and in the process, permanently burnish Seattle\u2019s spot","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I used to work at Fred Hutch, so this story tickles me no end","og_description":"The Hutch Closes in on a cancer cure THE MAGIC MICROSCOPIC particles that might change the world \u2014 and in the process, permanently burnish Seattle\u2019s spot","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2018-05-24T07:59:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-05-22T22:02:47+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html","name":"I used to work at Fred Hutch, so this story tickles me no end","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-05-24T07:59:05+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-22T22:02:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"The Hutch Closes in on a cancer cure THE MAGIC MICROSCOPIC particles that might change the world \u2014 and in the process, permanently burnish Seattle\u2019s spot","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/05\/i-used-to-work-at-fred-hutch-so-this-story-tickles-me-no-end.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I used to work at Fred Hutch, so this story tickles me no end"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103919\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}