Category Archives: Cancer Vaccine

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.

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 Research, Cancer Treatment, Cancer Vaccine, Uncategorized

UV Exposure and the Skin Cancer Connection

Sun Exposure and Cancer
Sun Exposure and Cancer

Exposure to ultra-violet (UV) rays can have more serious consequences than a painful sunburn. UV rays from both natural and man-made sources can increase risk of developing skin cancer.

How UV Rays Damage Skin

While UV rays come primarily from the sun, they contain more energy than visible light. Man-made sources of UV rays include tanning beds and welding torches.

UV rays are powerful enough to ionize atoms by removing an electron, which is how they cause damage to DNA in body cells. But they don’t have enough energy to penetrate to organs and other internal tissues, which is why their effect is seen mostly on skin.

UV Ray Wavelengths

The three types of UV rays are:

  • UVA rays, which are the weakest of the three and linked more to cosmetic damage such as wrinkles than to skin cancer.
  • UVB rays, which are slightly stronger and the main cause of sunburns and skin cancer.
  • UVC rays, which have the most energy but are prevented from reaching the ground by the ozone layer.

Preventing UV Ray Exposure

A certain amount of sunshine is necessary for good health, but protect yourself by applying sunscreen to exposed parts of your body when you’re outside for extended periods. Avoid peak hours of 11 AM until 4 PM and stay in the shade when possible.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: Restoring the Body’s Natural Defenses

At Issels®, our integrative immunotherapy treatments boost your own immune system’s ability to fight cancer. Contact us for more information to learn how immunotherapy for cancer has helped patients diagnosed with skin cancer, melanoma and other types of tumors.

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

One in five US Cancer Patients Are Diagnosed with a Rare Cancer

1 in 5 US Cancer Patients Are Diagnosed with a Rare Cancer
1 in 5 US Cancer Patients Are Diagnosed with a Rare Cancer

Rare cancers are more common than you think. As a group, they make up about 20% of all cancer diagnoses. However, each specific type of rare cancer is still very dangerous because the symptoms are often misdiagnosed. At Issels®, we often see patients whose rare cancer went undiagnosed despite several rounds of doctor visits and tests.

The American Cancer Society recently shed light on the frequency of rare cancer diagnoses:

  • Rare cancer is defined by annual diagnoses in less than 6 out of 100,000 people
  • 71% of all cases in people under 20 years old are rare types
  • 39% of all cases in people 20 to 39 years old are rare types
  • Younger people have better survival rates for rare cancer than older people

Together, Learning More About Rare Cancers

In some cases, standard cancer treatment fails to work as well as it does for common types of cancer. On the other hand, the ACS notes that innovations in rare cancer treatment often help scientists develop better treatment for all types of cancers.

After a rare cancer diagnosis, it can be difficult to find information if your physicians are not very familiar with the disease. We specialize in advanced stage cancer treatment at Issels®, including rare types of the disease that are not responding well enough to standard therapies.

At Issels®, we offer individualized treatments including cancer vaccines developed using the patient’s own autoimmune cells. Such treatments, known as immunotherapy, are helping patients with standard therapy–resistant and advanced stages of cancer.

Learn more about our integrative immunotherapy approach to cancer treatment on our website or contact us for more info.

Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Cancer Vaccine, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Stage Four Cancer Treatment

Our Patient Testimonials Give an Insiders’ View of Our Cancer Treatments

Get The Treatment You Need with Us!
Get The Treatment You Need with Us!

When it comes to cancer treatment at Issels®, no one can speak about it more eloquently than our patients. Here’s what they have to say in their testimonials about our integrative immunotherapy programs.

In Our Patients’ Own Words: The Issels® Difference

  • Gerhard Uhlemann was diagnosed with an epipharynx tumor of the head and neck. As he explains, “I was 12 years old and I am still thankful that Dr. Issels saved my life. Back then the University Clinic gave me two weeks to live.” After treatment, Uhlemann remained cancer-free for more than 30 years.
  • At the age of six, Emma Banks was diagnosed with a Wilms tumor. Two years after a nephrectomy of her left kidney, Emma experienced a relapse with two tumors in her left lung. Emma’s mother Susan relates that, thanks to treatment at Issels®, her daughter “has been in remission for almost nine years now without any standard treatment.”
  • When Kenneth Scoones lost his lymph nodes to melanoma, he was told the cancer had metastasized to his lungs and his life expectancy was one year at most. After four weeks at Issels®, a CT scan revealed that the metastases had disappeared. Scoones states that from his arrival, “The doctors, nurses, all the staff responded, showed care and affection, and compassion – everything that was needed for a patient with this sort of disease.”

Immunotherapy: Going Beyond Standard Cancer Treatment

Our innovative immunotherapy methods boost the natural power of your body’s own immune system. Contact us to learn more about cancer vaccines, NK cells and other non-toxic cancer treatments at Issels®.

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

Is There a Link Between Gut Bacteria and an Immunotherapy Response?

Questions on How Immunotherapy Will Work for You?
Questions on How Immunotherapy Will Work for You?

Could the path to fighting cancer go through your stomach? Researchers have found a surprising link between immunotherapy for cancer and the bacteria found in your gut.

The Varied Responses to Immunotherapy

While scientists had previously made the connection with mice, a team at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center recently made a breakthrough with the first study involving humans. The subjects included 233 patients with advanced melanoma.

A subset of 43 patients was on checkpoint inhibitors, one of the primary methods of immunotherapy for cancer. Out of this group, 30 responded to the treatment while 13 did not.

What made the difference? The researchers discovered that the 30 patients who responded had a wider variety of gut bacteria, particularly a specific type called Clostridiales, along with a higher concentration of the immune cells that fight cancer.

Strengthening the Immune System

According to Fred Ramsdell, vice president of research at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, it’s likely that exposure to a greater amount of bacteria during your lifetime results in a more robust immune system. Exactly why this happens is still a puzzle for now.

Experts are optimistic that this information will eventually be used to more effectively target patients who will respond to immunotherapy treatments. A clinical trial focusing on the microbiome is planned for later this year.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: The Issels® Approach

Our namesake, Dr. Josef M. Issels, pioneered non-toxic immunotherapy treatments and we carry on his legacy today. Contact us for more information about our individually tailored programs that are created to meet your individual needs.