Tag Archives: Cancer Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy and Its Use in Stage 2 and 3 Cancers

There is New Hope for Cancer Patients. Don't Give up!
There is New Hope for Cancer Patients. Don’t Give up!

Immunotherapy drugs have become a valuable weapon in the fight against metastatic cancer, also known as Stage 4. Researchers are discovering that immunotherapy for cancer treatment can also have positive results when used during earlier stages of the disease.

Immunotherapy and Early-Stage Cancer

At the recent European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress in Madrid, AstraZeneca presented successful trial results for its immuno-oncology drug Imfinzi in treating mid-stage lung cancer. AstraZeneca is considered a latecomer to the I-O field as compared to established companies such as Merck and Bristol-Meyers Squibb.

For their part, Bristol-Meyers produced evidence regarding Opdivo, the company’s widely used late-stage I-O drug. Opdivo has been shown to prevent relapses in melanoma patients when administered immediately post-surgery.

Supplementing Surgery with Immunotherapy

This method of following surgery with cancer treatment is referred to as adjuvant therapy. With the success of Opdivo, a number of trials are being conducted on adjuvant therapy using I-O drugs with a range of cancer types. Some trials are even focusing on neoadjuvant, or pre-surgery, treatment for breast, neck and head cancers.

What’s Next?

If the trend of early-stage immunotherapy treatment continues, early detection becomes even more important than ever. According to Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, effective early treatment is a powerful incentive for increased use of screening methods.

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John McCain and Glioblastoma

It's Time to Stop Cancer
It’s Time to Stop Cancer

Two years ago, then-Vice President Joe Biden was inspired by the death of his son to launch a “moonshot” campaign for cancer treatment research. Today, Sen. John McCain’s battle against brain cancer has once again turned a spotlight on the disease.

Vice-President Biden Joins the Fight Against Cancer

In May 2015, Biden’s eldest son Beau succumbed to glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The same disease claimed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy in 2009.

Four months after his son’s death, Biden called off his expected run for the presidency in order to launch a campaign of a different sort. Biden and his advisors joined forces with the American Association for Cancer Research to ramp up the search for a cure.

Brain Cancer Remains in Public Awareness

Arizona Sen. John McCain, a one-time Presidential candidate himself, was diagnosed with glioblastoma this past July. The diagnosis added another layer of drama when McCain returned to Washington, D.C. a week later and cast the deciding vote against a proposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Last month, McCain appeared on CNN’s State of the Union to discuss his illness. The senator told host Jake Tapper that he would be undergoing an MRI the following day, adding that advancements in cancer treatment gave hope for his prognosis.

State-of-the-Art Immunotherapy from Issels®

Researchers have been making astounding breakthroughs in cancer treatment. Issels® has long been a leader in the use of personally tailored immunotherapy programs to successfully treat patients with all forms of cancer.

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3-D Printing Allows Doctors to “Practice” Cancer Surgery

New Technology Helps to Train Doctors
New Technology Helps to Train Doctors

The classic med school model of practicing surgery on cadavers may soon be a thing of the past. Some doctors are now using 3-D printing models of patients’ organs as guides to improve outcomes of cancer treatment.

3-D Printing Improves Success of Prostate Cancer Treatment

While 3-D printing has been around since the mid-1980s, it’s just now coming into focus as a valuable tool for medical applications. One of the current pioneers of 3-D “surgery” is the USC Institute of Urology of Keck Medicine of USC.

Surgeons such as Dr. Inderbir Gill, executive director of the Institute, are using 3-D printed organs for patients with prostate cancer. The reproduction allows doctors to determine the precise location of tumors, which is virtually impossible to do during actual surgery.

Working with a 3-D model also helps surgeons reduce the risk of serious side effects that can occur during contact with areas surrounding the prostate. According to Dr. Gill, precision tools such as 3-D printing greatly improve the chances of completely removing the cancer.

Fine-Tuning Medication Dosage with 3-D Models

Another promising application of 3-D medical printing in cancer treatment involves the use of radiopharmaceuticals. Drugs containing radioactive material are administered to patients intravenously, orally, or placed inside a body cavity.

It’s challenging to determine a radiopharmaceutical dose that’s powerful enough to kill cancer cells without damaging healthy tissues as well. 3-D printing provides a vehicle to find the right balance.

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Targeted Cancer Drugs May Protect Fertility in Female Cancer Patients

There is New Hope for Cancer Patients.
There is New Hope for Cancer Patients to Have Children After Treatment

Women of child-bearing age who are undergoing cancer treatment are often vulnerable to infertility. Researchers recently discovered that a certain type of targeted cancer drug may block this unfortunate side effect of chemotherapy.

How Cancer Treatment Affects Fertility

Chemotherapy drugs work by targeting rapidly developing cells and damaging cellular DNA. Oocytes, or immature egg cells, are hypersensitive to DNA damage in order to “retain genomic fidelity.”

In addition, chemotherapy triggers a signaling pathway in the ovaries, resulting in premature maturation of primordial follicles. This process is often referred to as follicular burnout.

Currently there are two primary options for women to preserve their fertility while receiving chemotherapy:

• Goserelin (trade name Zoladex®) and leuprolide (trade name Lupron®) are drugs that temporarily shut down the ovaries.

• Cryopreservation involves harvesting eggs and freezing them for future use or fertilizing them outside the body and freezing the embryos.

Can Targeted Cancer Drugs Help to Preserve Fertility?

mTOR inhibitors have been approved for clinical use as they undergo continued testing for application as targeted cancer drugs. Since mTOR is a vital element in an ovary’s signaling pathway, researchers suspect that blocking the enzyme could protect the reserve of primordial follicles.

During the study, female mice who received chemotherapy only experienced follicular burnout, while those who received mTOR inhibitors as supplements maintained the reserves of primordial follicles. The latter also became pregnant at normal rates, while the former were primarily infertile.

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Immunotherapy boosts the ability of your body’s immune system to target and destroy cancer cells. Contact us for more information about our state-of-the-art, personally-tailored cancer treatment programs.

CAR T-Cells May Be an Effective Immunotherapy for Multiple Myeloma

Is Issels Genomic Testing for Personalized Treatment For You
Is Issels Genomic Testing for Personalized Treatment For You?

Researchers have been focusing on CAR T-cells as the basis for a promising immunotherapy cancer treatment. Recent trials show encouraging results for the use of CAR T-cells in fighting advanced multiple myeloma.

CAR T Cells: A New Approach in Cancer Treatment

Scientists are excited about CAR T-cell therapy because it uses a patient’s own immune cells to treat cancer. The cells are gathered from the patient’s blood, engineered to produce chimeric-antigen receptors (CARs), and multiplied in the lab to reach quantities in the billions.

At that point, the cells are reintroduced into the patient’s bloodstream, to where they attach themselves to specific targets on cancer cells. CAR T-cell products, currently awaiting FDA approval, target the CD19 antigen in leukemia and lymphoma.

Can CAR T-Cells Treat Different Cancers?

Two CAR T-cell trials were recently conducted in the United States and China. Results were presented last June at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

Both trials examined the use of CAR T-cells that target B-cell maturation antigens (BCMA), which are proteins found in myeloma cells. Most of the patients in the studies achieved positive results, with many experiencing complete remission.

CAR T-cell research is still in the early stages. Testing will continue to validate these findings and determine whether CAR T-cell therapy is a viable treatment method for cancer patients.

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The Connection Between Tumors and Blood Vessels

Stop Cancer
Stop Cancer

The medical community has long believed that cancer cells support their growth by generating blood vessels. A recent study suggests that blood vessels may actually begin the cycle of tumor development.

“Hijacking” Blood Vessels for Tumor Development

According to cancer biologist Dr. Lan Ko, one of the authors of the study, the team found evidence that blood vessels can create tumors. In turn, the cancer cells then produce blood vessels to further sustain their growth.

Researchers focused on GT198, a gene generally found in low levels within the body. It has a natural ability to repair DNA and regulate stem cells, but in mutated form it creates cancer cells.

Pericytes, found in the outer layer of blood vessels, resemble stem cells in the way they can form different types of tissue. During the study, researchers found abnormally high levels of GT198 in pericytes supporting a number of human tumors.

Even more surprising was that the GT198 was located in the pericytes’ cytoplasm instead of the nucleus. This enabled malignant pericytes to multiply into cancer cells and detach from blood vessels to promote spread of the tumors.

Application for Cancer Treatment

As Dr. Ko explained, these results indicate that GT198 is a viable target for immunotherapy for cancer treatments. Further testing will explore use of existing cancer drugs and development of new ones.

Issels® Leads the Way in Immunotherapy for Cancer

While immunotherapy for cancer has become a hot topic among scientists, Issels® has been successfully using our integrative, non-toxic treatments for decades. Contact us for more information about cancer vaccines and our other individually tailored programs.