A dusting of breadcrumbs

[biopearl]

Check out the CT site. Myeloma study now listed as complete as of yesterday with 2 arms, I guess to include those who received lenolitamide. Hope this will result in data for ASH in Dec. bp

[Dogonenuts]

Check out study number 5 on the CT site. Has been ongoing since Nov 2012. That is 3 1/2 years with some of those pts still surviving. I know this was the study that put Imetelstat on the map.. Must be still working for some. No new info, but meaningful.

[biopearl]

Dog, the study you reference is the Mayo Pilot study. Many have followed this one closely and hope for an update at ASCO, although Dr. T has only a poster and not an oral presentation, that appears directed more toward the Janssen studies. "John" has been a patient in this trial for years and was doing well. His wife, Irishtrader57 has gone strangely silent and I hope not because of any change in her husband's condition but we just do not know. Irish was a knowledgeable window into the study and her insights were quite valuable and reassuring. Its been some months since she has posted here or on YMB. Anyway yes the MF pilot study formed the foundation for the subsequent Janssen studies and included MF/MDS and AML patients. I would hope at this point some inference could be made about effect on longevity. If you want to submit a question to Dr. Scarlett at the annual meeting, via the link provided in an earlier chain about this study please do. Remember the patients enrolled in the MF, MDS, AML and myeloma studies had advanced disease and failed other regimens, in other words they had nothing going for them, that is until Imetelstat was made available to them. One wonders about the potential benefits for patients if Imet were introduced into their regimens much earlier in the course of their diseases. Can someone (I used up all my allowed questions and then some), ask Dr. Scarlet something to the effect "What value creating events do you foresee in the coming year for Geron?" He has been so tightlipped, maybe we can get a glimpse with this type of open ended question. bp

[hiprock88]

Bio,
You bring up an interesting point about Irish, and effect on longevity. Hopefully for John's sake, he's still receiving benefit from treatment and doing well. But assuming that's not the case, didn't he still achieve great results and a longer period of symptom free disease than generally accepted alternative therapies? There may be other reasons she's no longer posting as well.

[sargasso]

bp and others,

I am confused about what type of information may be shared by GERN at ASCO concerning the results of the on-going clinical trials. Is the below information correct or incorrect? This is taken from the YMB and is a recent post. Is Hoosier correct?

"Check this out by Hoosier Investor on SA on the ASCO conference

He says that Dr. T's presentation is a "Trial in Progress" and the rules for presenting any trials in progress means they can't reveal any preliminary results. BUT... then there's this statement:

"* Phase II studies may report, “8 of planned 32 patients have been enrolled” or “Prespecified activity goal for the first stage of accrual was met; second stage accrual began in January 2016.”

"Prespecified activity goal" sounds like they can't say results, but they could say the interim was completed. It sounds like Dr. T might reveal imbark is enrolling for the second stage".

http://finance.yahoo.com/mbview/threadv ... d%2C26%2C3

[Fishermangents]

I am a bit puzzled about this too. Preliminary results for ongoing trials can not be presented. At the same time they only select presentations that provide new information. Maybe there is a difference between actual results (PR's, CR's etc.) and the progress of the process of the trial itself. But then I can't see that just information about the trial process would be sufficient to be elected for ASCO. It could be that Dr.T will present about new insights in the disease and/or the role of telomerase (-inhibition) related to genetic profiles (or something like that) derived from the ongoing trial.

Off course we can also just wait and see...

[biopearl]

Sargasso, I would not look for too much new info at ASCO. First off it is generally a solid tumor meeting with a smaller emphasis on heme. Secondly Dr. T has a poster, not an oral presentation which generally carries less weight and will probably not reveal substantial new info. We might get an update on enrollment which I think is the best we can hope for. It does seem however that the high risk patients (who failed other therapies) enrolled in the pilot study must be exceeding projected survivals by now--this is why the disappearance of Irish is especially disconcerting-- but whether anyone will comment because the study would reflect anecdotal info rather than strict statistical info is uncertain. I think we can be sure no preliminary data will be presented in poster form, but there will probably be some PR release around then. I am hoping maybe something at ASH, but I wouldn't bet even on that given the timelines suggested by the CT site (EU approval first?). I do think the myeloma study conclusion and the footnote "additional info provided by Geron corporation:" incorporated into the MM study noted on the CT site might be significant and could be the cat and mouse hint that Scarlett dropped during the conference call (Come on John, just treat us like adults, I could do without the games). The MM study only had 13 patients enrolled and didn't seem to generate too much attention or excitement (yet?). bp

[sargasso]

bp,

Thanks for your reply. Your post included lots of useful information! You appear to have a very good understanding of GERN and of biotech in general.