Tag Archives: Personalized Cancer Treatment

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

Precision Medicine May Allow Specialized Treatment Targeting

Precision Medicine May Allow Specialized Treatment Targeting
Precision Medicine May Allow Specialized Treatment Targeting

The rise of immunotherapy and other advancements in cancer treatment have put a positive light on the longstanding fight against the disease. Unfortunately, more aggressive forms of cancer such as lung, pancreatic and brain continue to resist even the most sophisticated therapies.

Not All Tumors Are Created Equal

Renewed attention to this issue arose during recent reports of Arizona Sen. John McCain’s diagnosis of glioblastoma, a particularly stubborn form of brain cancer. Despite extensive research and testing of innumerable treatment modalities, little progress has been made against glioblastoma.

Researchers have come to realize that a paradigm shift is needed in their approach to these hard-to-treat forms of cancer that don’t “follow the rules” of other types. It’s not enough to simply apply methods used to treat tumors with similar mutations.

Targeting Hard-to-Treat Tumors with Precision Medicine

Precision medicine can help determine why these stubborn cancers have failed to respond to previous treatments. For example, the Defeat GBM Research Collaborative is systematically identifying targets for cancer treatment as well as possible areas of resistance.

The blood-brain barrier is a literal roadblock in treating glioblastoma. This network, located within small blood vessels inside the brain, keeps dangerous toxins and chemicals out, but it also repels drugs designed to attack cancer cells.

Cancer Treatment: One Size Does NOT Fit All

At Issels®, we understand that what works with one patient is not necessarily going to work with another. We use specialized testing methods to create an individual treatment program based on your personal situation. Contact us to learn more about cancer vaccines, NK cells and other non-toxic immunotherapy protocols.

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.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Living with Cancer

Cancer Drug Research Will Change Lives in the Future

Cancer Drug Research
Cancer Drug Research

Cancer drug research is moving medicine toward a new frontier of personalized cancer treatment that is expected to change our lives for the better in the not too distant future. Tremendous strides in genetic and cellular research have vastly extended our knowledge about how cancer attacks and spreads on the cellular level, opening new avenues for cancer research and potential treatments.

Targeting Cancer Triggers

Focusing cancer research on genetic and cellular behavior has revealed the existence of specific genes and proteins that affect cell growth and development. When these genetic switches malfunction, uncontrolled cell growth can occur which can lead to the development of cancer tumors can occur. Recent cancer news indicates that drug manufacturers are racing to develop new cancer drugs designed to target these cancer triggers and turn them off. The first of this new wave of cancer drugs is beginning to reach the marketplace and early cancer news reports are promising.

Personalized Cancer Treatment

As cancer drugs become more effective in isolating and neutralizing genetic and cellular cancer triggers, personalized cancer treatments are expected to become the norm. If, as many believe, personal genome mapping becomes commonplace in the future; cancer specialists will be able to order personalized cancer treatments based on your own genetic code.

At the Issels Centers in Tijuana, Mexico and Santa Barbara, California, we recognize that every patient is unique and that each individual’s response to cancer is equally unique. Cancer demands an individualized response. Our highly personalized cancer treatment protocols have produced an admirable record of complete long-term remissions of advanced and standard therapy-resistant cancers. Visit our website to hear what our patients have to say.