Monthly Archives: January 2023

Cancer Treatment, Uncategorized

Can Work and Cancer Treatment Coexist?

If you’re diagnosed with cancer, one of your immediate concerns is how it will affect your everyday life, including your job. Can you continue to work while in treatment, or will you even be able to keep your position?

Can Work and Cancer Treatment Co-Exist?

No matter what form of cancer you have, your particular case is unique so there are no hard and fast rules concerning your job performance. Answers will depend on factors such as your overall health, stage of cancer, and your duties.

Go At Your Own Pace

You may find that you’re able to continue with your regular work schedule during immunotherapy for cancer or other treatments. If your job becomes too much of a strain or your doctor recommends that you cut back, here are some tips to help you manage:

• Change to a part-time schedule

• Work from home either full- or part-time

• Modify your working conditions, such as having a desk closer to the restroom

• Enlist help from your family with household chores so you have more energy for your work responsibilities

You’ll need to coordinate any modifications with your supervisor, so be sure to communicate with him/her regularly. As for co-workers, it’s your choice whom you tell and how much you tell them. You may want to discuss your illness only with your closest and most trusted co-workers.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: Individually Tailored for Your Specific Case

Immunotherapy for cancer includes personalized non-toxic therapies that can reduce the number and severity of side effects. Contact us to learn why Issels® is the leader in comprehensive immunotherapy for cancer protocols.

Immunotherapy for Cancer, Uncategorized

Researchers Learn How to Make Large Quantities of Immune Cells for Cancer Vaccines

Immunotherapy for cancer is all about boosting a patient’s natural defense systems. Thanks to a breakthrough by researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center in NYC, scientists are now able to generate certain immune cells outside the body.

The Role of Dendritic Cells

Dendritic cells serve as an early warning system for the immune system. These cells give the signal to “arm” the system with disease-specific weapons. A major plus is that dendritic cells can attack all forms of cancer while causing few side effects.

Unfortunately, the down side is that dendritic cells are normally in short supply. Extracting them from patients to use in immunotherapy for cancer proves to be a difficult, time-consuming and expensive process.

Dendritic Cells and Immunotherapy

The research team at Mount Sinai discovered a way to grow human dendritic cells in vitro. According to Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, Director of Immunotherapy at the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, the ability to generate these cells on a large scale opens the door for extensive studies of potential applications in highly refined cancer vaccines.

In another promising development, the study also provided insight into notch signaling. This biological pathway plays a major role in generating cDC1, which is the optimum dendritic cell for cancer vaccines. The team discovered that some current treatments disrupt notch signaling, which interferes with the immune system’s efficiency in fighting tumors.

Benefits of this study are twofold. In addition to applications for cancer treatments, the information may help prevent organ transplant rejection, which is another function of the immune system.

Longtime Leaders in Immunotherapy for Cancer

Issels® has long been in the forefront with dendritic cell therapy. Our non-toxic treatments are created to meet each patient’s individual needs. Contact us for more information.

Living with Cancer, Uncategorized

Sleep Disorders Can Impact Cancer Patients

Sleep in the mechanism that allows your body time to repair and recharge itself, both mentally and physically. While sleep is necessary for good health at any time, it’s even more essential if you’re living with cancer.

The Anatomy of Sleep Cycles

While you’re not consciously aware of it, there are two distinct phases to sleep:

  • REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is the time when your brain is active.
  • NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep is the restful phase, which includes four stages ranging from light to deep.

One full sleep cycle lasts approximately 90 minutes, with a NREM phase followed by a REM phase. This pattern repeats four to six times during the night, depending on the total length of sleep. Any interruption in the cycle prevents the brain from fully completing its restorative tasks.

Sleep Disorders and Cancer

The National Cancer Institute identifies the five major sleep disorders as:

  • Insomnia or the inability to fall asleep and remain asleep
  • Sleep apnea, where a patient actually stops breathing for several seconds at different times during the night
  • Hypersomnia, which causes difficulty staying awake during daytime hours
  • Circadian rhythm disorder, in which the entire sleep-wake cycle is skewed
  • Parasomnia encompasses unusual behavior such as walking or eating while asleep

Chronic lack of sleep can interfere with your ability to care for yourself during treatment while it saps your energy and increases the risk of depression.

Issels® Offers Immunotherapy for Cancer Designed for Your Specific Needs

Our integrative immunotherapy for cancer treatments are focused on boosting your body’s natural abilities to fight the disease. Visit our website for more information.