New Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Information Film with Steve Coogan.

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Very informative video! Well done Steve and the crew :-)

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An immune system engineered to Kill Leukaemia cells....

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PHILADELPHIA — A year ago, when chemotherapy stopped working against his leukemia, William Ludwig signed up to be the first patient treated in a bold experiment at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Ludwig, then 65, a retired corrections officer from Bridgeton, N.J., felt his life draining away and thought he had nothing to lose.

Doctors removed a billion of his T-cells — a type of white blood cell that fights viruses and tumors — and gave them new genes that would program the cells to attack his cancer. Then the altered cells were dripped back into Mr. Ludwig’s veins.

At first, nothing happened. But after 10 days, hell broke loose in his hospital room...............

To read the full incredible story click HERE.

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Robin Hood Marathon today. Scarlett's last outing !

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After rather a hectic trip over to Nottingham today to display the car for LLRF I have decided that this would be the last time that Scarlett will be attending shows dressed in her 2010 50th anniversary attire. It's time for a change, and a rest. 4  years promoting the LLRF has been great fun, but now i have other things in my life that need my attention.

Thanks for everyone's support over the years, and don't worry, i will still be "Keepin on Roccin" for some time yet ! :-)

Andy

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An amazing breakthrough in Leukaemia treatment may be available in 5 years.

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A simple injection to cure Leukaemia could be produced within five years after a remarkable breakthrough by a British research team.

They believe they have found a way to trigger the body's immune system to beat a disease which kills 4,000 people a year in this country. The same techniques may eventually be advanced to treat other cancers, such as breast and lung, they say.

The breakthrough follows six years of research, funded by the Leukaemia Research Fund, at London's Hammersmith Hospital and Imperial College School of Medicine.

It involves two strands, firstly to 'label' the cancerous cells, and secondly to mass-produce immune cells outside the body which can then be injected to search and destroy the malignant ones. In the future, the researchers hope to use the technique to 'wake up' a patient's own immune system to destroy malignant cells without using donor cells.

Dr Hans Stauss, a tumour immunologist at Imperial, said: 'The possibilities for new treatments are enormous.' The first trial of the injection is about to begin on ten patients.

The 'labelling' was achieved by identifying a single gene which is over-active in leukaemia cells. It is referred to as WT-1. For the second strand, the researchers took white blood cells from healthy donors and isolated the few that mounted the fiercest response against tumour cells in the laboratory.

By cloning them, they were able to produce unlimited supplies of peak performance immune cells, called T-cells. In tests, the engineered immune cells specifically destroyed leukaemia cells and ignored normal cells of the same type.

'That's the beauty of the approach,' said Dr Stauss. 'It is so specific at destroying cancer cells.' He hopes to further develop the technique for after-care to ensure there is no recurrence of the cancer .The timescale is about five to six years before we see it widely used,' said Dr Stauss.

'The principle can be applied to almost all forms of leukaemia. What makes the work even more exciting is that our findings can also be applied to solid cancers, such as breast or lung cancer, where there is similar over-activity of WT-1.'

Lord Winston, director of research and development at the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, said: 'To the best of our knowledge this is the first time in the world that anyone has identified a target which allows T-cells to selectively destroy cells that cause leukaemia.

'Such a breakthrough underlines the vital importance of long-term academic research in the production of new and desperately needed treatments.'

Every year 5,000 cases of leukaemia are diagnosed in Britain and 4,000 victims die. It can be either acute, with rapid degeneration, or chronic, a slowly progressive form of the disease.

In both cases the bone marrow of the patient produces large numbers of abnormal, fast- dividing cells which inhibit the body's ability to produce blood. Chemotherapy is the recognised treatment. Sometimes bone marrow transplants are needed

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15039/Breakthrough-leukaemia.html#ixzz1XSo8sx31


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Sleaford town council vs Tesco act 1

Well well. After a deafening silence for the last 3 years or so the Sleaford town council has at last found a voice and is challenging the proposed building of a Mega Tesco in the town.

They have put the proverbial spanner in the works for the planned development by refusing to sell an area of recreation land which it appears is key to the planned build going ahead......nice :-).

Of course the County Council may still be able to bypass this "hiccup" by way of securing a compulsory purchase order to aquire the required plot....unless of course the people of Sleaford take this opertunity to make a.stand against the "Tescoisation" and ruin of this ancient market town.

Closure of the level crossing and the rerouting of traffic directly to Tesco's store will without doubt sound the death knoll for many Sleaford businesses.

Come on Sleaford lets take heart and  motivation from the town councils brave stance. Grow a pair and let your voice be heard!.

Sleaford Vintage and Classic Car and Bike Show 2011

For a change this year I did not take Scarlett to this annual show, and instead, for a change, i took my father in laws 1972 VW Beetle 1300.

Due to building work at St Georges college, this year the show was held in the car parking area at the Sleaford Town Council offices on Eastgate and to be honest it seemed to be just as good a venue as the regular location.

Anyway, a great day was had by myself, mini me and his grandad, and, apart from a slight hiccup when mini me decided to fall over and remove a lot of skin from his knees and hands, the day was very very enjoyable. Sadly Tom's Beetle did not receive any awards or prizes, but we did get our pictures taken by both local newspaper photographers so there is a good chance that we may get a mention in the local press!.

Here are a few piccies that we got of the event.....

Nexy year I will get organised and make sure that a special car and a half make an appearence at the show :-)

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