Chapter 1327: Chapter 1003: The Life-Saving dicine is Right Beside You Chapter 1327: Chapter 1003: The Life-Saving dicine is Right Beside You Although Fu Xiaotao’s mother maintained an unfriendly expression on her face, Yang Ping did not care about such matters and did not expend any extra energy to focus on this issue. If it were another doctor, they would definitely pay close attention to the family’s attitude; if family mbers were opposed or distrustful, treatnt would be put on hold, unless it was an ergency life-saving treatnt.
Not long after Yang Ping left the oncology departnt, a doctoral student brought an inford consent docunt for the research treatnt for Fu Xiaotao to sign. Of course, when it ca ti to sign, Fu Xiaotao couldn’t avoid a dispute with his mother, because she believed that experintal treatnt was tantamount to using her son as a lab rat. In her opinion, signing the docunt would be like selling her son’s health to the hospital, to Professor Yang, an absolutely unacceptable act.
Conversely, the father’s opinion was exactly the opposite. He believed that since traditional treatnts were confird to be ineffective, why not try a new thod, at least there would still be a glimr of hope. Fu Xiaotao’s illness hadn’t been correctly diagnosed in so many hospitals, but here, a diagnosis was quickly obtained through a pathological examination, providing every reason to trust in the doctor’s expertise.
A three-to-two majority decision allowed Fu Xiaotao to smoothly complete the signing. In truth, Fu Xiaotao wasn’t dismissing his mother’s views, but her opinions were often based on prejudiced subjective judgnts, completely unworthy of consideration. She even demanded to take Fu Xiaotao to see a master, which he didn’t attend, leaving his mother to go alone. She spent sixty thousand yuan on a pillow that was supposed to cure diseases.
Money was spent and the pillow bought, yet it did not have the expected therapeutic effect and in the end, they were still rushing to the hospital to save a life.
Even at this mont of life and death, Fu Xiaotao held strongly to his convictions; he signed the inford consent to participate in the experint and was smoothly transferred to the Surgical Research Institute. At the institute, Fu Xiaotao had many vials of blood drawn for tests he had never undergone before. Many of the tests were not standard hospital assays but rather biochemical exams looking into various pathways of the human immune system.
Such tests could not be completed in other hospitals, and those hospitals wouldn’t even think to conduct them, because Sanbo Hospital boasts several strong foundational dical laboratories, thus possessing the capability to conduct such examinations.
A few days later, all of Fu Xiaotao’s test results were in, and Yang Ping personally went to the laboratory to see them. Tang Shun pulled up the research findings on the computer, “From these biochemical analyses, it seems that the key to the disease should be the mTOR signaling pathway.”
Tang Shun wasn’t a clinical doctor; his expertise lay in foundational dical research. For a doctorate well-versed in basic dicine, utilizing these tests to identify which signaling pathway was involved was quite straightforward, as such tasks were routine for them. anwhile, for clinical doctors, research into signaling pathways was seldom touched upon, a highly sophisticated area of technology. Even so clinicians skilled in research severely lacked comprehensive biochemical knowledge, highlighting the chasm between specialties.
Yang Ping carefully analyzed each test result, everything was so clear, indeed, the crux of the problem had been identified as the mTOR signaling pathway. If the mTOR pathway could be blocked, then could the disease be cured? Theoretically, it must be so.
This bold idea thrilled Yang Ping. He had found a new approach for treating Castleman’s disease. Whether it would work or not still needed to be tested in practice.
Tang Shun was now sowhat troubled, “But what drug should be used to block the mTOR signaling pathway?”
“Sirolimus, used for anti-rejection therapy after kidney transplantation!” Song Zimo blurted out, as this was a drug very familiar to clinicians.
Utilizing Sirolimus to block the mTOR signaling pathway for treating Castleman’s disease would not require any approval processes, as Sirolimus was not a new drug. It had been used clinically for a long ti, specifically to block the mTOR signaling pathway in anti-rejection therapy for kidney transplants.
“Should we stop the chemotherapy and administer Sirolimus to him?” Song Zimo also beca excited. No doctor could contain their excitent at such a mont.
Yang Ping decisively said, “Stop all chemotherapy, stop hormone treatnts, only use Sirolimus for treatnt, and start imdiately.”
Without a rich combination of basic dical knowledge and clinical dical expertise, it would have been impossible to overturn the accepted model of interleukin-6 pathogenesis. This shows the importance of having a comprehensive grasp of relevant knowledge in the field of dicine; without it, doctors would forever be trapped within the cocoon of their specialized knowledge.
The chasm between basic dical science and clinical dicine is vast, and the tools at the disposal of clinicians when facing problems in clinical settings are extrely limited—not to ntion the more advanced techniques. anwhile, basic dical science is often unaware of what specific issues are being faced in clinical dicine. A very small number of doctors who are able to bridge both fields often make remarkable academic achievents, such as a professor from the anesthesiology departnt at Huaxi Hospital, who combined his pharmacology knowledge with clinical insights to develop a whole new local anesthetic.
Returning to the ward, Yang Ping sought out Fu Xiaotao for another discussion, which was held in the eting room instead of the ward to avoid unnecessary distractions.
“We’ve found a new chanism for Castleman disease and a new treatnt drug. Fortunately, the new drug is actually a well-established dication that has been used for years, but it was never used to treat Castleman disease. Instead, it was used to prevent organ rejection after kidney transplants. Based on its performance in preventing rejection after kidney transplants, it should be effective for your condition, because it targets the sa chanism,” Yang Ping explained his discovery to Fu Xiaotao.
Song Zimo also stepped in to add so details, “We plan to start the new treatnt for you as soon as possible, stopping all the previous chemotherapy and hormone treatnts.”
Although Fu Xiaotao had read a lot of material on Castleman disease, he was, after all, a layman compared to a doctor, so he replied without hesitation, “I will comply with your treatnt plan. If I need to sign anything, I can do it anyti.”
“Sirolimus!” sothing suddenly ca to Fu Xiaotao’s mind.
“Yes, Sirolimus!” Yang Ping confird with certainty.
Fu Xiaotao rembered, “Once when I was hospitalized, the patient in the bed next to mine was a post-kidney transplant patient, and he was constantly taking Sirolimus. No wonder it sounded so familiar.” The life-saving drug had been so close by all along, once within such close reach.
Since Fu Xiaotao was so cooperative, the following treatnt would go smoothly. Everything proceeded according to the new plan. On the sa day, Fu Xiaotao’s chemotherapy dication was discontinued, and he started taking Sirolimus. Ti waits for no one, and Fu Xiaotao’s condition didn’t have much ti left.
Over at Nandu dical University, news spread that Principal Ding had fallen ill and been admitted to the ICU at Nandu Affiliated Hospital No. 1. So cases of brain cancer are just like that—no symptoms at all like a normal person, but once symptoms appear, they’re usually life-threatening or dire.
Principal Ding’s situation ca as a bit of a shock. Lu Xiaolu truly regarded Principal Ding as a father and, upon hearing that Principal Ding had suddenly fallen ill and was in the ICU, stayed vigilant outside the ICU and kept in touch with Yang Ping, hoping Yang Ping could help determine if there was any hope for Principal Ding.
Another brainstem tumor!
Yang Ping didn’t know how many brainstem tumors he had encountered, but perhaps it was precisely because the surgery was too difficult and risky, and because there were so few doctors and hospitals patients could turn to, that such a concentration effect occurred.
For such a brainstem tumor, Nandu Affiliated Hospital No. 1 definitely had no solution. Apart from Sanbo Hospital, only Temple of Heaven Hospital had the capability to perform the surgery.
Not long after receiving Principal Ding’s CT scans from Lu Xiaolu, Yang Ping got a call from his father-in-law, Professor Su, inviting him for an urgent consultation on Principal Ding. As soon as he hung up the phone, he received another call from Principal Ruo to discuss Principal Ding’s condition.
Principal Ding had actually made many contributions to the school, and his own academic achievents were quite substantial. Regrettably, his excessive indulgence towards his daughter had led to overly generous support for his son-in-law. Even after learning about his condition, he was still rapidly paving the way for his daughter and son-in-law’s future.
PS: This case is based on a true story. In the United States, a dical student diagnosed with Castleman disease was considered incurable and given less than two years to live. However, this dical student refused to accept his fate and decided to save himself. Amidst his debilitating illness and near-death experiences, he dedicated trendous effort to studying the disease. By conducting extensive research, he overturned the disease chanism of “Interleukin-6” and identified the real chanism to be the “mTOR signaling pathway.” Convinced of his findings, he stopped chemotherapy and began taking Sirolimus. After six months, one year, and then two years, his Castleman disease was cured and never relapsed. From a dying patient with a gaunt appearance, he beca a vibrant and healthy Castleman disease expert—a world-leading authority. This is a story of resilience, of challenging authority, and of inspirational self-help.
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