Tag Archives: Precision Cancer Treatment

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.

Precision Medicine Promises a Better War on Cancer

Precision Cancer Medicine
Precision Cancer Medicine

At Issels® Immuno-Oncology, we believe cancer treatment should be an integrative approach that relies on non-toxic, personalized and precise methods.

What is precision medicine?

Instead of utilizing broad, toxic treatments based mostly on cancer location, we look at the many factors that contribute to the formation and spread of cancer and then tackle the specific causes at the cellular and immune system levels.

On April 26, Dr. Craig Thompson from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center covered the benefits of precision medicine in a piece for The Wall Street Journal titled “The Future of Cancer: Closer to a Cure.”

He noted that cancer growth depends on more than location or even genetic predisposition. Cancer usually forms because the body’s regeneration and immune system response processes fail. Cells mutate for a variety of reasons:

  • Error – Errors can occur naturally as cells grow and tissues regenerate.
  • Age – Cells naturally mutate as we age.
  • Damage – Cellular damage happens from different external sources, such as radiation, environmental pollutants, viruses, bacteria, et cetera.

Cancer forms when a person’s immune system fails to consider these cells a type of threat. With precision medicine, oncologists and immunotherapy specialists use a patient’s immune system to fight off disease with non-toxic methods. They tackle some specific mutations with vaccines and cell therapies that reverse causation to prevent new mutated cellular growth. Additionally, they boost the immune system and push it to continue working and destroy cancer long after it might normally shut down.

For more information, or to schedule an appointment at one of our Issels® Integrative Immuno-Oncology centers, call 888-447-7357 (United States and Canada) or 001-888-447-7357 (Abroad) or use our convenient online form.