Category Archives: Immunotherapy for Cancer

Issels and the Dendritic Cell Vaccine for Cancer

It's Time to Cross Out Cancer!
It’s Time to Cross Out Cancer!

For decades, Issels® has been a leader in non-toxic immunotherapy for cancer treatments. The dendritic cell vaccine is one of the most potent weapons in our cancer-fighting arsenal, succeeding in many late-stage patients for whom other treatments had failed.

The Power of Dendritic Cells

Immunotherapy for cancer focuses on boosting the power of the body’s own immune system to fight tumors. Dendritic cells are part of the immune system, serving as advance sentries that recognize the presence of foreign antigens.

Once the dendritic cells process the antigens, they are presented to T cells, another part of the immune system. T cells are effectors that provide a response to stimulus such as bacteria, viruses and other invaders.

Individually, dendritic cells are extremely potent, but the problem is that they’re not usually present in large enough quantities. Dendritic cell vaccines are an effective method of increasing their numbers.

Issels® and the Dendritic Cell Vaccine

In a process called extracorporeal photophoresis, a patient’s blood passes through an ultraviolet light chamber, which provides an immune boosting effect. White blood cells are harvested and cultured into active dendritic cells, then re-injected into the body to trigger an immune response.

Traditional cancer treatments often have side effects because they attack healthy cells along with tumor cells. Dendritic cells can distinguish normal dying cells from cancer cells so the immune system refrains from attacking them.

Personalized Immunotherapy for Cancer at Issels®

Dendritic cell vaccines are only one of the innovative treatments we use for patients with all forms of cancer. Contact us to read and hear testimonials from our many patients who have successfully achieved long-term remission.

NIH Embraces Immunotherapy as a Top Cancer Treatment

NIH Embraces Immunotherapy as a Top Cancer Treatment
NIH Embraces Immunotherapy as a Top Cancer Treatment

The National Institutes of Health has named immunotherapy as a top form of cancer treatment. In the past, chemotherapy and radiation were typically the main types of cancer treatments that the NIH focused on. However, research findings and treatment advances have led to an increase in the demand for immunotherapy for cancer.

Fighting Cancer with the Immune System

Immunotherapy relies on the body’s immune system to seek out and destroy cancer cells before they have a chance to spread. This type of treatment focuses on strengthening natural immune defenses against cancer rather than targeting and destroying cancer with radiation or chemotherapy. This helps protect healthy cells from damage and lowers the risk of nausea and other potentially severe side effects.

Advances in Immunotherapy

Advances in immunotherapy for cancer have led to significant improvements in this type of treatment, which has resulted in a higher number of successes for those with certain types of cancer. Researchers are also doing studies to find out more about immunotherapy in order to provide more and more cancer patients with effective treatment.

Current research has been focusing on why this type of treatment works better for some patients, what other kinds of cancer it can be used for, and how to make it more effective when used in combination with other forms of cancer treatment. These findings should lead to even more successes for immunotherapy.

If you’re interested in learning more about how immunotherapy for cancer works, please contact Issels®. Our cancer treatments are nontoxic and can be effective for certain cancers that are difficult to treat.

Immunotherapy: 2017’s Top Clinical Advance for Cancer Treatment

Immunotherapy: 2017's Top Clinical Advance for Cancer Treatment
Immunotherapy: 2017’s Top Clinical Advance for Cancer Treatment

The use of immunotherapy for cancer has been around for a long time, but it’s becoming more and more common. In fact, this form of treatment was named the 2017 Clinical Cancer Advance of the Year, which was mainly due to the increase in successful cases of treatment for cancers that are normally hard to treat.

Fine-Tuning Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy offers a non-toxic form of treatment, which doesn’t have the risk of side effects as chemotherapy and radiation do. Patients often turn to this type of treatment if they have not had success with conventional cancer treatments or they’re unable to tolerate the accompanying side effects.

Immunotherapy makes use of the immune system in order to find cancer cells and destroy them, rather than relying on chemicals or radiation. Researchers have been working on improvements in the way this type of treatment handles cancer, which has led to a higher number of successful treatments.

Good Candidates for Immunotherapy

Researchers have also been looking into who benefits from this type of treatment. Immunotherapy for cancer has been used successfully in cases that are considered hard to treat. However, certain types of immunotherapy treatments seem to be more effective for some patients but not others.

Researchers are conducting a number of studies to learn more about why certain individuals have greater benefit while undergoing specific immunotherapy treatment protocols. This research is expected to lead to improvements for those with cancers that are difficult to treat with traditional methods.

If you need more information on immunotherapy for cancer, please contact Issels® today. We offer personally tailored immunotherapy treatments for those with certain cancers.

Treatment Uses Patient’s Own Immune Cells to Fight Cancer

Treatment Uses Patient's Own Immune Cells to Fight Cancer
Treatment Uses Patient’s Own Immune Cells to Fight Cancer

Scientists are hopeful that a new gene therapy cancer treatment will lead to development of other drugs that utilize the power of a patient’s own immune system. In the meantime, policy makers face the challenges of safety, cost and access.

“Training” the Immune System to Fight Cancer

The therapy in question, called Kymriah, received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2017. Novartis developed Kymriah as a cancer treatment for children and young adults with a type of leukemia known as ALL.

Kymriah is a form of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell treatment. A patient’s T cells are genetically reengineered and infused back into the patient’s system to attack and kill cancer cells.

Weighing the Pros and Cons

During clinical trials conducted by Novartis, 63 patients received a one-time infusion of CAR T cells. After three months, 52 of the patients were in remission.

The downside is that 76 percent of the patients experienced a variety of side effects. In order to determine the overall risk vs. reward factor, the FDA has required Novartis to perform a post-marketing study of Kymriah’s safety and effectiveness.

An article published in the October issue of Health Affairs noted that high demand and high cost of CAR T cell therapies could lead to greater inequalities in health outcomes. The authors urged ethics and policy-making to catch up to the science of cancer treatment.

Issels®: A Pioneer in Cancer Immunotherapy

Issels® has long been ahead of the field in successful use of cancer treatment that aids the immune system in targeting tumor cells. Contact us for more information.

Some Cancers Cloak Themselves from the Immune System’s Discovery

Some Cancers Cloak Themselves from the Immune System's Discovery
Some Cancers Cloak Themselves from the Immune System’s Discovery

Immunotherapy cancer treatment is designed to aid the body’s immune system in recognizing and attacking tumor cells. Scientists are finally uncovering clues as to how cancer cells are able to evade detection by the body’s natural defenses.

How Cancer Blocks the Immune System

The first steps were taken in 2009 by a team headed up by Dr. Irving Weissman, director of Stanford’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Their research discovered that some cancer cells are able to emit a “don’t eat me” signal.

High levels of CD47, a transmembrane protein, are found on the surface of more aggressive cancer cells. CD47 then binds with another protein called SIRPalpha on the surface of macrophages, a type of white blood cell, inhibiting their ability to attack cancer cells.

In 2017, Dr. Weissman’s team published the results of a recent study that identified another protein that interferes with macrophage activity. When MHC class 1 binds with a protein known as LILRB1, it’s resistant to an antibody that has been used successfully to counteract CD47 in tests on mice with cancer.

Applications for Immunotherapy Cancer Treatment

Cancer research is complicated by the fact that different types have different “fingerprints.” The studies conducted by Dr. Weissman’s team are helping scientists learn more about strategies to “outwit” cancer cells and their ability to avoid detection.

Issels®: Pioneering Immunotherapy Cancer Treatment

Our founder, Dr. Josef Issels, was ahead of his time in focusing on the immune system as the key to defeating advanced cancer. Contact us to learn more about how we are continuing his legacy of helping patients achieve long-term remission.

Molecularly Targeted Therapy Emerges As Another Possible Cancer Treatment

Molecularly Targeted Therapy Emerges As Another Possible Cancer Treatment
Molecularly Targeted Therapy Emerges As Another Possible Cancer Treatment

The problem with traditional cancer treatments is that they attack healthy cells along with diseased cells, which results in serious side effects such as fatigue and hair loss. Doctors are encouraged by the success of a new cancer treatment that zeroes in on the cancer cells.

The “Next Revolution in Cancer Therapy”

Molecularly targeted therapy is being hailed as the next big step in cancer treatment. These new drugs are designed at the molecular level to attack the diseased cells of a specific type of cancer. In addition, they can identify specific molecules that are part of specific cancers.

The drugs are created by a process that is the reverse of how most cancer drugs are developed. Scientists identify an abnormal molecule that’s unique to a particular type of cancer, then design a drug that shuts down its activity.

Gleevec: Paving the Way

Novartis Pharmaceuticals has developed Gleevec, also known as STI571, which is leading the way for molecularly targeted therapy. Gleevec is used for chronic myeloid leukemia, or CML, which is a rare form of the disease characterized by excessive production of white blood cells.

Researchers discovered that Gleevec is also effective against GIST, a rare gastrointestinal cancer. GIST features a unique enzyme related to the original target enzyme in CML.

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

Gene-targeted therapies, including Gleevec, Tamoxifen and Avastin, are a significant part of our personalized treatment programs. Issels® also uses non-toxic immunotherapy treatments that boost the immune system’s ability to target tumor cells.

Contact us today for more information about our decades of success in helping patients achieve long-term remission.