Category Archives: Immunotherapy for Cancer

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Immunotherapy for Cancer

Blocking Cystine May Starve a Hard to Treat Breast Cancer

A Unique Perspective
Block Cancer

Cancer cells have a high-powered metabolism that demands a steady stream of nutrients for fuel. Scientists may have discovered a way to “starve” a hard-to-treat form of breast cancer by depriving the cells of a crucial substance.

Feed a Cold, Starve Cancer?

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particularly aggressive and treatment-resistant form. In a study performed at Duke University, researchers found that the cells have an “addiction” to a nutrient called cystine, and deprivation causes them to die off quickly.

Further examination showed that the addiction is triggered by a mechanism used by the cells to migrate to other parts of the body, a process known as metastasis. According to Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi, associate professor at Duke University School of Medicine and lead author of the study, the metastasized cells are the primary target of treatment.

What’s Next?

Chi’s group had previously published a study showing that the cells in a stubborn form of kidney cancer are also subject to the cystine addiction. The next step is to test cystine-blocking molecules on tumors and look for biomarkers that will signal cancer cells that are receptive to the treatment.

As Chi explains, tumor cells use this programming to move rapidly around the body. The researchers’ goal is to take advantage of the same process for a cure.

State-of-the-Art Immunotherapy for Cancer at Issels®

Our personally-tailored immunotherapy for cancer treatments are developed using genome testing and other cutting edge methods. Contact us for testimonials from patients who have been successfully treated for all forms of cancer, ranging from lung cancer to melanoma to leukemia.

Cancer Research, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy, Immunotherapy for Cancer, News

Could the X Chromosome Hold a Key to Cancer Incidence?

New Cancer Research
New Cancer Research

High school biology teaches that the Y chromosome is what distinguishes males from females, who have two X chromosomes. Cancer researchers are exploring the possibility that the additional X chromosome may hold a key to why women have a lower incidence of cancer than men.

Genetic Gender Bias?

The so-called “male bias” runs across all types of cancer. In the past it was thought to be caused by men’s greater exposure to environmental factors such as cigarette smoke and chemicals, but that didn’t explain a similar bias in juvenile cancers like pediatric leukemia.

According to Dr. Andrew Lane of Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, lead author of the study, everyone carries tumor suppressor genes that protect cells from cancer. When cancer develops, these genes lose functionality.

Strength in Numbers

The study revealed the genes that were mutated more frequently in male cancers occurred on the X chromosome. While this sounds counterintuitive, there’s more to the story.

One copy of the X chromosome is shut down in all cells, a process known as X inactivation. But approximately 50 of the 800 genes on the X chromosome are spared, leaving women with two sets of those particular genes. As a result, any cancer that develops must mutate twice as many of the genes in women as in men.

Genomic Testing and Immunotherapy for Cancer

Each patient’s cancer is unique, which is why genomic testing is one of the special methods we use at Issels®. Contact us for more information about our personally tailored immunotherapy for cancer treatments that destroy cancer cells while strengthening your body’s own natural defenses.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Immunotherapy for Cancer

New Medication May Effectively Treat Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Cancer Survivors: A Unique Perspective on Hope
Breast Cancer Research

The term “breast cancer” encompasses several subtypes of the diseases, including triple-negative breast cancer, a more aggressive form that occurs frequently in younger women. Scientists in Ireland recently made a discovery that holds promise as an more effective treatment than chemotherapy, which is currently the only available option for this cancer subtype.

What Is Triple-Negative Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is usually categorized by the presence or absence of three different receptors that fuel the growth of tumors. Triple-negative breast cancer lacks all three receptors, making it unresponsive to the targeted treatments often used with breast cancer.

BREAST-PREDICT is the Irish Cancer Society Collaborative Cancer Research Centre where the recent study was conducted. Researchers identified a drug called APR-246 that can prevent the growth of certain cancer cells.

APR-246 Can Mean New Hope for Breast Cancer Patients

Results of the study were published last year in the International Journal of Cancer. Naoise Synnott, the PhD student who performed the research, said she decided to focus her efforts on triple-negative breast cancer because of the lack of effective treatment for the disease.

Currently, chemotherapy is the only form of treatment available to patients with triple-negative breast cancer. Unfortunately, many of them don’t respond, leaving them to suffer the side effects of chemotherapy with no positive outcome.

Approximately one in six cases of breast cancer worldwide is diagnosed as triple-negative. The next step with APR-246 is conducting clinical trials to evaluate real-life results.

Is Immunotherapy for Cancer Right for You?

For decades, Issels® has been in the forefront of cutting-edge immunotherapy for cancer treatments. Contact us for testimonials from patients we have successfully treated for breast cancer, leukemia and other forms.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy, Immunotherapy for Cancer

Some Immunotherapy Drugs May Cause Heart Damage But There Is the Issels Safe Alternative

New Immunotherapy Drugs

New immunotherapy drugs on the market have shown tremendous benefits in battling cancer, but a potentially serious side effect has come to light recently. Some of these drugs, especially when used in combination, may cause heart damage.

Putting the Immune System in Overdrive

In November 2016 the New England Journal of Medicine published a report from a team of experts led by Dr. Javid Moslehi of Vanderbilt University. It involved two melanoma patients who died two weeks after their initial doses of Opdivo and Yervoy, manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Opdivo and Yervoy are part of the class of drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors that boost the immune system’s ability to fight cancer cells. In some rare cases, it appears that the immune system also begins attacking the heart and other muscles.

Patient safety records at Bristol-Myers revealed that 18 patients out of 20,594 people receiving one or both drugs had experienced heart inflammation (for a rate of 0.09 percent). The rate increased for patients using both drugs, but it was still less than one percent.

Doctors are Cautious but Optimistic

According to Dr. Jeffrey Sosman of Chicago’s Northwestern University, who treated both patients in the report, overstimulation of the immune system was a known possibility. Many doctors believe drug combos are still the best option for effective treatment, but they are stressing that patients need to be informed of the risk and monitored closely.

Issels® Has Decades of Experience with Non-Toxic, Safe Immunotherapy for Cancer

Our clinic’s namesake, renowned cancer specialist Dr. Josef Issels, pioneered integrative methods of immunotherapy for cancer dating back to the mid-20th century. Contact us for more information about our safe non-toxic immunotherapy and cancer vaccines.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Immunotherapy for Cancer

Study Finds that Older Lung Cancer Patients May Still Benefit from Surgery

Lung Cancer
Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the second most common form of cancer in both men and women, and nearly all the patients are over the age of 45. Despite the fact that the average age of diagnosis is 70, cancer surgery is proving to be a viable treatment option that can extend the lives of these patients.

Is Surgery Appropriate for Older Patients?

The general opinion, even among healthcare professionals, is that surgery is too hard on the aging bodies of older patients to be considered as a solution for lung cancer. Treatment then focuses on controlling the symptoms rather than attempting curative solutions.

Evaluating Surgical Treatment for Lung Cancer

In October 2016 the Journal of Clinical Oncology published a study headed up by Dr. Prasad Adusumilli, a thoracic surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Participants included more than 2,000 patients diagnosed with Stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer. Approximately 70 percent of the subjects were 65 or older.

After these patients had surgery to remove the tumors, the group experienced a remarkable track record of success. The first year follow-up showed that patient deaths to that point were most often due to causes other than lung cancer. Even more encouraging news was that after five years nearly 90 percent of the patients were alive and cancer-free.

Instead of Surgery Consider Immunotherapy for Cancer

At Issels®, our personally tailored immunotherapy for cancer treatments are designed to boost your body’s natural defenses against the disease. Contact us to learn more about state-of-the-art non-surgical programs such as cancer vaccines and cell therapies prepared from your own immune cells.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Immunotherapy, Immunotherapy for Cancer

Big Pharma’s Specialized T Cell Treatment May Be Too Toxic for Some Patients

Using the Body to Fight Cancer
T Cell Engineering

CAR-T is a remarkable new immunotherapy for cancer treatment that has been described as “heroic medicine” for patients who have exhausted all other resources. As Big Pharma begins taking steps toward bringing CAR-T to the market, certain toxic side effects have given some investors pause.

Pros and Cons of CAR-T

Your immune system includes T cells, which are a subtype of white blood cells. CAR-T involves harvesting a patient’s T cells, engineering them to recognize cancer then returning them to the patient’s system where they are now better equipped to fight cancer cells.

So far CAR-T has had particular success against leukemia and lymphoma, with one study resulting in leukemia completely disappearing from 90 percent of the participants. The bad news is that some test subjects have developed serious side effects such as cytokine release syndrome, which can result in organ failure.

The Search for a Safer Treatment

While experts believe the dramatically positive results greatly outweigh the potentially negative ones, researchers are at work exploring ways to make CAR-T safer for cancer patients. One promising approach is standardization of T cell doses by maintaining specific proportions.

Some researchers use a so-called “suicide switch,” which is a drug that causes T cells to self-destruct in the presence of high toxicity levels. Doses of the activation drug can be adjusted so it reduces toxic effects but leaves some T cells intact.

The Non-Toxic Alternative: State-of-the-Art Immunotherapy for Cancer at Issels®

While immunotherapy is a hot buzzword in the medical community, Issels® has been a leader in the field for decades. Contact us to learn more about the success of our personally-tailored non-toxic immunotherapy for cancer treatment programs.