Tag Archives: Advanced Cancer Research

Alternative Cancer Treatment, News

Big Pharma Criticized for Standing in the Way of New Cancer Treatments

Big Pharmasudical Problems
Big Pharmasudical Problems

“It is time for drug companies to put helping patients first,” says Dr. Carlos S. Moreno. The Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Biomedical Informatics at Emory University makes a compelling argument on Reuters.com that it’s time large pharmaceutical companies started living up to their stated goal of saving and improving lives. By placing their responsibilities to their shareholders and profit margin over their moral responsibility to better patients’ lives, Moreno says Big Pharma is holding back vital cancer research.

At issue are the roadblocks cancer researchers are encountering as they explore new avenues for treating cancer. As Moreno notes, “Researchers … are making remarkable discoveries to help identify new drugs and drug targets for cancer patients. Many new compounds are under investigation, including those that inhibit the growth of cancer cells, block the blood supply to tumors and prevent tumors from evading the immune system.”

The sequencing of cancer genomes has allowed the development of advanced targeted therapies and is providing researchers with new insights into how cancer grows and why it returns. As Moreno explains:

“One clear insight we have gained is the likelihood that no single drug will be able to defeat cancer. The reason most cancers become drug resistant and come back is because the DNA mutates quickly. Cancer cells that are not killed by the drugs survive, continue to grow and replace the cells that have been wiped out.”

Many cancer researchers have concluded that an integrative approach to cancer treatment is necessary to defeat cancer’s ability to mutate and survive. Unfortunately, researchers are finding that their ability to turn new discoveries into therapeutic cancer treatments is being stymied by Big Pharma’s constant eye on profit margins.

To be continued

After Cancer, Immunotherapy, Stage Four Cancer Treatment

Stage 4 Lung Cancer Patient 10 Years Cancer Free after Issels Integrative Immunotherapy

Lung Cancer
Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the No. 1 cancer killer in the U.S. and the world, and small cell lung cancer is considered its most lethal form. Diagnosed with recurrent small cell lung cancer, Jim Gibson felt he was facing a certain death sentence when he sought treatment at Issels alternative cancer treatment centers in 2003. When standard cancer treatments did not work, Jim decided to try non-toxic integrative immunotherapy as a last resort. The decision saved his life. After just four weeks of exclusive Issels immunotherapy that included dendritic cell vaccine, Jim achieved complete tumor remission. Jim has now been cancer-free for 10 years and enjoys a healthy, active life. (Click to hear Jim’s story in his own words.)

As reported in the Sacramento Bee, “In recent years the surge of immunotherapy has given cancer sufferers new hope.” A leader in integrative immunotherapy for more than 60 years, Issels Integrative Oncology has been at the forefront of the immunotherapy movement that is now being embraced by practitioners of traditional medicine as “amazing” and “a game-changer” in the treatment of cancer. Many cancer researchers now believe that immunotherapy is the future of cancer treatment and our best hope for an eventual cure.

Immunotherapy enhances and harnesses the power of the body’s own immune system to target and destroy cancer cells. A non-toxic alternative cancer treatment, integrative immunotherapy does not batter the body with toxic chemotherapy or radiation so it does not produce the debilitating side effects that so many cancer patients fear. The non-toxic aspect and strong track record of immunotherapy is leading more cancer patients to consider it as a first choice for treatment rather than a last resort. As Issels patient Nicole Tupper says, “Try this first … it’s an amazing option.”

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

Dendritic Cell Vaccines Are Changing Cancer Treatment Focus in the U.S.

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Cancer Vaccine
Cancer Vaccine

“When Angelina Jolie learns she has a breast cancer gene, we don’t know what else to do, so we cut her breasts off,” Dr. Susan Love, president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, recently told USA Today. “We have to be looking for the cause.  I worry that we don’t, that we’re paying too much attention to the treatment, which comes with a huge cost.”

Interviewed about the new U.S. push to develop a breast cancer vaccine, Dr. Love was voicing the frustration many feel about the focus of U.S. cancer research and treatment. Appearing to lag their European peers, U.S. cancer researchers are only now recognizing the importance of immunotherapy in treating cancer. Jumping on the bandwagon, many U.S. university centers are exploring immunotherapy’s holistic, non-toxic approach to cancer treatment and beginning to offer trials of dendritic cell vaccines. Issels already has more than half a century of clinical experience with immunotherapy and years of proven experience using dendritic cell vaccines.

At the University of Pennsylvania, doctors recently began testing personalized cancer vaccines made with the patient’s own immune cells. As noted in the USA Today article, in the Pennsylvania test women with an early cancerous condition called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are being inoculated with an immunotherapy vaccine following surgical removal of breast tumors. It is hoped that the vaccination will prevent tumor recurrence; but trial participants will have to wait years before they know if the vaccine is effective.

At Issels you don’t have to wait. We already have a unique track record of long-term cancer remission results using cancer vaccines in integrative immunotherapy.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

Research Initiative Broadens Search for a Breast Cancer Vaccine

Test tubes in a laboratory
Research Initiative Broadens Search for a Breast Cancer Vaccine

Cancer researchers are exploring multiple avenues in their quest to develop a preventative vaccine for breast cancer. As noted in our previous post, vaccines typically target a specific virus or bacteria which has complicated development of breast cancer vaccine.

Unlike the smallpox virus or polio virus which provided researchers with a clear target for vaccine development, breast cancer appears to have multiple causes, only some of which may be viral or bacterial. For example, the human mammary tumor virus (HMTV) is found in 40% of breast tumors. While HMTV’s role in tumor development is not yet understood, at best future development of a HMTV vaccine would have the potential to prevent fewer than half of breast cancers.

Despite the complexities, development of a breast cancer vaccine is a top priority among cancer researchers who are tiring of chasing treatments without addressing the cause of breast cancer. Voicing the frustration many members of the cancer community share, Fran Visco of the National Breast Cancer Coalition told USA Today that in the U.S. “the vast majority of research dollars [are spent] on the next treatment for breast cancer. But we only see incremental benefits from all of these treatment drugs.”

To spur research, NBCC has launched the Artemis Project, a breast cancer vaccine initiative. Some of the more promising research under way is attempting to define the tumor environment, such as the role infections and proteins play in tumor development. Once again, traditional medicine is following in the footsteps of Issels’ founder. Issels Integrative Oncology already offers dendritic cell vaccines and cell therapies that target the cancer tumor microenvironment.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

Search Is on for Preventative Breast Cancer Vaccine

Cancer Vaccine
Searching for a Breast Cancer Vaccine

Searching for a vaccine to prevent breast cancer, traditional Western medicine is once again following in the footsteps of renowned cancer specialist Dr. Josef Issels, founder of Issels Integrative Oncology. Since the development of a preventative cervical cancer vaccine, scientists have been searching for vaccines that could be used to prevent other common cancers, including breast and prostate cancer. A common problem has been lack of a clear target.

Vaccines typically target a specific virus or bacteria, but scientists have not been able to isolate a single specific cause for breast cancer. Certain viruses are known to cause cancer. Human papillomavirus (HPV), for example, has been directly linked to cancers of the cervix, head and neck, vulva, vagina, penis and anus; and liver cancer can be caused by the virus Hepatitis B. While there are a number of different cancers that attack the breast and scientists speculate that breast cancer is likely to have multiple causes, the human mammary tumor virus (HMTV) is evident in 40% of all breast tumors. HMTV also seems to play a significant role in inflammatory breast cancer, a rare but deadly form of the disease.

The relationship between breast cancer and HMTV is not fully understood, but the virus has given cancer researchers a target for the development of a breast cancer vaccine that would spare women from subjecting their bodies to mastectomy, chemotherapy or radiation. Numerous vaccine initiatives are currently in progress, but personalized cancer vaccines that tap into the patient’s own immune system, like those already available at Issels appear to offer the greatest potential.

Next time: Vaccine initiatives

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

Issels Cancer Vaccines Offer Non-Toxic Cancer Treatment Alternative

Sick Young Woman Lying in Bed --- Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis
There are non-toxic treatments for cancer. Find out what we do

Chemotherapy and radiation can be so toxic to the human body that some cancer patients choose to halt treatment rather than live through one more day of pain and misery. Traditional medicine’s standard cancer treatment weapons — chemotherapy and radiation — work by flooding the body with aggressively toxic chemicals or battering it with caustic radiation. The problem is that while these traditional cancer therapies do kill cancer cells, they also kill healthy cells, weakening and even damaging the body. For many cancer patients the physical and emotional cost of chemotherapy or radiation is simply too great. Alternative cancer therapies offer effective non-toxic cancer treatment options that work with the body to battle cancer.

Issels autologous cancer vaccines are prepared from the patient’s own blood to be non-toxic and immediately compatible with the patient’s system. Our cancer vaccines work with the body’s immune system to strengthen the patient’s natural immunity against cancer cells. Every day we are exposed to all sorts of bacteria, viruses, pollutants, diseases and other potentially hazardous elements. As these agents invade our bodies, our immune system goes on the attack, producing disease-fighting antibodies. These antibodies remain in the blood stream, our immune system responds and creates a powerful barrier to future exposure.

Issels cancer vaccines work in much the same way. Prepared from the patient’s own blood, Issels autologous cancer vaccines intensify immune system response and enhance the body’s ability to fight cancer.