Category Archives: Cancer Treatment

Cancer Treatment, Cancer Vaccine, Immuno-Oncology, Uncategorized

New Guidance on Lymph Node Removal for Melanoma Patients

2 Comments
New Guidance on Lymph Node Surgery
New Guidance on Lymph Node Surgery

Aggressive surgery has often been the preferred approach for patients in whom melanoma has spread to the lymph nodes. Results of a recent trial suggest that a conservative treatment of watchful waiting may actually be more beneficial.

Is Completion Surgery Necessary?

Once a patient is diagnosed with melanoma, the traditional procedure has been to conduct a sentinel lymph node biopsy. If cancer cells are detected, the next step is usually immediate removal of the remaining regional lymph nodes in the surrounding area.

Surgery vs. Watchful Waiting

MSLT-II involved 1,934 participants who had been diagnosed with skin melanoma of medium thickness that had spread to sentinel lymph nodes but nowhere else in the body. Half underwent immediate lymph node removal surgery while the other half were monitored for signs of cancer in the regional lymph nodes.

After three years, 86 percent of patients in each group had not succumbed to melanoma. In addition, 68 percent of the surgery group and 63 percent of the monitored group had not experienced any recurrence of cancer.

Greater Risk of Complications

While difference in recurrence rate was negligible, the surgery group was found to be far more susceptible to complications. Those patients were approximately four times more likely to experience lymphedema, which is a buildup of excess lymph fluid that causes swelling.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: State-of-the-Art Treatment

We have successfully treated patients with melanoma and other forms of cancer in both early and late stages. Contact us to learn more about Issels® and our individually developed, non-toxic immunotherapy for cancer programs.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Cancer Survivors, Cancer Treatment, Uncategorized

What is Recurrent Cancer – What Do I Need to Know?

What Do I Need to Know?
What Do I Need to Know?

Have you ever heard stories about patients undergoing immunotherapy for cancer and experiencing no recurrence? Here’s what you need to know about recurrent cancer and what it means in terms of your overall health.

When Cancer Comes Back

Recurrence refers to cancer that returns after treatment has been completed. It originates with cancer cells that remained after the first course of treatment but were too small to show up in post-treatment testing.

Recurrent cancer is the same form as the original tumor, as opposed to a new type of cancer that may develop in patients who have a history of tumors. The latter is known as second primary cancer.

Types of Recurrent Cancer

Cancer recurs in three different ways:

• Local recurrence is in the same general area as the original tumor.

• Regional recurrence describes cancer that has grown into lymph nodes or other tissues near the original cancer.

• Distant recurrence is when cancer has spread to organs or other tissues far from the original site.

Another term that describes distant recurrence is metastatic cancer. Regardless of where the cancer has spread, it’s still the same type as the original tumor.

Testing and Treatment

Your doctor will likely repeat many of the same tests that resulted in the first diagnosis. These tests provide information to help determine the appropriate course of treatment.

Effective Non-Toxic Immunotherapy for Cancer at Issels®

The personally tailored immunotherapy for cancer treatments at Issels® are designed to boost your own immune system’s ability to recognize and destroy cancer cells. Contact us today to learn how our programs have helped patients achieve long-term remission.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Uncategorized

How the Presence of Estrogen Protects Women from Gastric Inflammation Leading to Cancer

Advanced Cancer Research
Advanced Cancer Research

In the past, scientists have attributed gender discrepancies in cancer rates to lifestyle differences. Recent evidence strongly indicates that the cause may actually lie in biological differences instead.

This theory was bolstered by the results of an MIT study involving male mice infected with H. pylori, a bacterium that can lead to gastric cancer. More than 50 percent of people around the globe are infected with H. pylori, and while many remain asymptomatic, gastric cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.

How Gastric Cancer Develops

H. pylori infections are controlled by the body’s immune system, but a common side effect is gastritis, which is an inflammation of the stomach. The result is conditions that lead to the development of gastric cancer.

Studies have indicated that estrogen can protect women from gastritis, lowering their gastric cancer risk. Conversely, Tamoxifen and other drugs that block estrogen have been linked to higher risk of gastric cancer in women.

Testing the Theory

The mice in the MIT study were treated with estrogen, Tamoxifen or both. None of them developed cancer despite a prior history of gastritis, suggesting that Tamoxifen in the stomach may mimic rather than block estrogen. In the untreated control group, 40 percent of the mice developed gastric cancer.

Issels®: The Leader in Immunotherapy for Cancer

Using estrogen to treat cancer is an example of using the body’s own resources. Immunotherapy for cancer is a non-toxic way to boost the power of your own immune system to fight cancer.

Visit our website to learn more about how Issels® uses personally tailored immunotherapy for cancer to help patients achieve long-term remission.

Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Cancer Vaccine, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Uncategorized

Scientists Uncover a Key Step in Lung Cancer Progression Which May Lead to New Treatments

Advanced Cancer Research
Advanced Cancer Research

Approximately 40 percent of lung cancer cases in the United States involve an aggressive form called adenocarcinoma. Researchers recently identified a vital step in this cancer’s development that could be the key to successful early cancer treatment.

The Path from Benign to Malignant

Lung adenocarcinoma gets its name from adenomas, which are a form of benign tumors. Scientists believe that lung adenocarcinomas begin as adenomas that transition to the more aggressive type.

A team of researchers at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research set out to study the process behind the change from benign to malignant. According to lead author Tuomas Tammela, at some point the tumor cells begin acting like stem cells, allowing for rapid reproduction.

Flipping the Switch

Wnt is a signaling pathway that maintains cells in a stem cell-like state. The team focused on the activity of this pathway in a group of mice programmed to develop lung adenomas that were likely to progress to adenocarcinomas.

While they found that the Wnt pathway was not active in the adenomas, about five to 10 percent of the cells turned it on during the transition. When the mice received cancer treatment that interfered with the Wnt proteins, tumor growth was halted and the mice lived 50 percent longer.

Innovative and Effective Cancer Treatment at Issels®

Our non-toxic, integrative immunotherapy programs have helped cancer patients of all ages at every stage of the disease. Visit our website to read and hear testimonials from patients who have been successfully treated at Issels® for carcinoma, leukemia, breast cancer and all other forms of tumors.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Uncategorized

Built to Spread, Cancer May Change Genome to Proliferate More Easily

Stop Cancer
Stop Cancer

Researchers already know that cancer cells are often able to evade detection by the body’s disease-fighting immune system. A recent study shows they may also streamline their genomes for faster replication.

The good news? This information can be used to predict whether a tumor will be vulnerable to DNA-damaging immunotherapy for cancer.

What Is Ribosomal DNA?

Ribosomal DNA, which is present in both healthy and cancerous cells, is the key. This DNA carries the code for ribosomes, which produce the proteins that are responsible for many cell functions.

Copies of these DNA sequences are subject to constant expansion and contraction. A research team at the Stowers Institute, led by Jennifer L. Gerton, Ph.D., set out to show that cancer cells would select for expansion for more rapid proliferation.

A Surprising Discovery

Amazingly, after examining DNA in normal and cancer cells in both humans and mice, the team discovered that the cancer cells held fewer copies of ribosomal DNA. Despite this fact, the cells were able to efficiently make more ribosomal RNA and synthesize more protein.

Dr. Gerton theorizes that less DNA to copy enables faster replication. The side effect of this downsizing is a greater sensitivity to DNA damage, which Dr. Gerton’s team demonstrated by treating the cancer cells with four different DNA-damaging drugs.

Issels®: Ahead of the Curve with Immunotherapy for Cancer

For decades, Issels® has been using innovative immunotherapy methods to successfully battle all types of cancer, so we’re uniquely positioned to adopt the rapid advancements in the field. Contact us today for more information about immunotherapy for cancer programs that are tailored to meet your individual needs.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Uncategorized

Immunotherapy: A “Fundamental Change” in Cancer Treatment

8 Comments
Medical Research Has Validated that Immunotherapy Works to Fight Cancer
Medical Research Has Validated that Immunotherapy Works to Fight Cancer

As medical researchers have waged a decades-long battle to find a cure for cancer, the possibility of using a patient’s own immune system to fight tumors has been an exciting but unattainable dream. Today that dream is becoming reality with immunotherapy for cancer treatment.

“The Medical Equivalent of Splitting the Atom”

Traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation are designed to attack tumors directly. In contrast, immunotherapy aims to boost the power of a patient’s own immune system to battle cancer.

Dr. Jedd Wolchok, chief of melanoma and immunotherapeutics services at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City, refers to immunotherapy as a “fundamental change” in the approach to cancer treatment. Billions of dollars are being invested to fund hundreds of trials in which cancer patients anxiously plead to participate.

How Does Immunotherapy Work?

Your immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues and biochemicals that protect your body against illnesses caused by viruses, bacteria and other foreign substances. Cancer is particularly stubborn because it often evades detection by the immune system, allowing tumors to grew unchecked.

Immunotherapy comes in two basic forms:

  • Immune cells are removed from a patient, reprogrammed to fight cancer cells, and returned back into the patient’s bloodstream.
  • Checkpoint inhibitors are drugs that block the mechanisms used by cancer cells to shut down the immune system.

State-of-the-Art Cancer Treatment at Issels®

Our founder, Dr. Josef Issels, was a pioneer in the development of immunotherapy, and we’re proud to continue his legacy of helping patients successfully fight cancer. Contact us to learn more about our innovative programs of individually tailored cancer treatments.