Category Archives: Immunotherapy

Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Cancer Vaccine, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy, Immunotherapy for Cancer

Is There a Link Between Gut Bacteria and an Immunotherapy Response?

April 25, 2017 Nancy McCord

Questions on How Immunotherapy Will Work for You?

Could the path to fighting cancer go through your stomach? Researchers have found a surprising link between immunotherapy for cancer and the bacteria found in your gut.

The Varied Responses to Immunotherapy

While scientists had previously made the connection with mice, a team at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center recently made a breakthrough with the first study involving humans. The subjects included 233 patients with advanced melanoma.

A subset of 43 patients was on checkpoint inhibitors, one of the primary methods of immunotherapy for cancer. Out of this group, 30 responded to the treatment while 13 did not.

What made the difference? The researchers discovered that the 30 patients who responded had a wider variety of gut bacteria, particularly a specific type called Clostridiales, along with a higher concentration of the immune cells that fight cancer.

Strengthening the Immune System

According to Fred Ramsdell, vice president of research at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, it’s likely that exposure to a greater amount of bacteria during your lifetime results in a more robust immune system. Exactly why this happens is still a puzzle for now.

Experts are optimistic that this information will eventually be used to more effectively target patients who will respond to immunotherapy treatments. A clinical trial focusing on the microbiome is planned for later this year.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: The Issels® Approach

Our namesake, Dr. Josef M. Issels, pioneered non-toxic immunotherapy treatments and we carry on his legacy today. Contact us for more information about our individually tailored programs that are created to meet your individual needs.

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

Immunotherapy Trains Your Body to Fight Its Own Cancer

April 20, 2017 Nancy McCord 1 Comment

Your body’s immune system does an amazing job of protecting you from viruses, bacteria and other invaders. Tumor cells are able to avoid detection as foreign bodies, but immunotherapy for cancer is removing this advantage by boosting your body’s natural defenses.

How Cancer “Hijacks” the Immune System

When foreign cells invade your body, they carry proteins called antigens that trigger an immune response. Your system produces antibodies that bind with the antigens, which either neutralize the rogue cells on their own or alert T-cells to attack and destroy them.

While cancer cells also produce antigens, they manage to evade the normal process by hijacking the checkpoints that signal the immune system to attack. The cells remain undetected, allowing them to multiply as they continue to weaken the immune system.

Penetrating the Shield around Cancer Cells

Instead of using external treatments like radiation and chemotherapy to fight tumors, immunotherapy for cancer focuses on boosting the natural abilities of the immune system by “training” it to recognize and attack cancer cells. These methods include:

Drugs containing lab-made monoclonal antibodies that bind to cancer cell antigens and block the normal proteins that “disguise” them
Vaccines containing proteins that help the immune system recognize antigens on tumor cells

Issels®: A Personalized Approach

Immunotherapy for cancer has become a valuable alternative or supplement to traditional treatments, but each patient’s case is different. We use specialized testing to create an integrative treatment method that addresses your particular needs.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Treatment, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy, Immunotherapy for Cancer

Dr. Josef M. Issels Predicted the Future of Immunotherapy

April 13, 2017 Nancy McCord

Over the last few years, immunotherapy for cancer has become increasingly embraced by the medical community. But it was more than 20 years ago when our founder, Dr. Josef M. Issels, predicted the future of immunotherapy as an integrative and interdisciplinary approach.

A Groundbreaking Approach to Cancer Treatment

In a practice that spanned more than 40 years, Dr. Issels conducted research involving patients in the end stages of cancer, most of whom had exhausted all traditional methods of treatment. Results led to his pioneering a “holistic concept” of fighting cancer.

While traditional treatments focused on cancer as a disease unto itself, Dr. Issels believed it was a symptom of a larger disease affecting the entire person, body and mind. In such cases, the immune system is unable to perform its usual duties of defending against chronic development of malignant cells.

The breakdown of normal immune system functions centers on T-cells including Natural Killer (NK) Cells, which have the job of detecting and identifying foreign substances that enter the body. Without this normal barrier, malignant cells are free to multiply and form tumors.

Immunotherapy: An Integrative Method

Dr. Issels’ approach went beyond destruction and removal of tumors to address the main underlying causes of malignant cell development and immune system suppression in order to achieve long-term tumor remissions.

Traditional methods such as radiation and chemotherapy merely focus on the cancer cells and tumors. When they become part of an integrative treatment, including non-toxic immunotherapy, they can achieve better results with fewer side effects.

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

Our highly personalized non-toxic immunotherapy programs include Cancer Vaccines, Natural Killer (NK) Cells, Lymphokine-Activated Killer (LAK) Cells and Cytokines.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy, Immunotherapy for Cancer

Highlighting Natural Killer Cell Activation through the Issels Immunotherapy Protocol

April 11, 2017 Nancy McCord

Worker in a lab — NK Cells and Immunotherapy for Cancer

Natural Killer (NK) cells may sound scary, but they play a valuable role in immunotherapy for cancer. Boosting NK cell levels helps the immune system mount a strong response in order to eliminate tumors.

How Natural Killer Cells Work

When cancer is diagnosed early, treatment has a good success rate. Cases of late-stage cancer are more difficult to treat because the tumor cells have often begun metastasizing throughout the body.

This is where NK cells come in. They fight tumors as well as metastasized cancer cells through production of proteins known as cytokines. In addition, NK cells are so-called because of their capacity to quickly attack foreign bodies without the activation of antibodies.

Another valuable benefit of NK cells is their function in mediating anti-tumor immunity. Studies have shown that mice with reduced levels of NK cells have lowered resistance to metastases and RMA tumor outgrowth.

The Effect of Immunotherapy on NK Cell Levels

An analysis of NK cell counts was done on 129 patients who had gone through the Issels® treatment program. The group of patients ranged across all four Stage classifications and a wide variety of types of tumors.

Each patient’s individual protocols included non-toxic treatments such as immune-stimulants, autohemotherapy, oxidative therapy, enzymatic therapy, phytotherapy, amino acids, detoxification strategies, dietary and life-style changes, as well as emotional support. After approximately three weeks, the group showed an average 48 percent increase in absolute NK cell levels per individual.

Issels®: A Trailblazer in Immunotherapy for Cancer

Our clinic was established to carry on the groundbreaking work of our founder, Dr. Josef M Issels, in the field of immunotherapy for cancer. Contact us for more information about cancer vaccines and other personally tailored treatment programs.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Cancer Treatment, Immuno-Oncology, Immunotherapy, Immunotherapy for Cancer, Stage Four Cancer Treatment

PBS News Hour Features Immunotherapy for Cancer

April 4, 2017 Nancy McCord 1 Comment

Diverse Hands Holding The Word Cancer — Immunotherapy brings breakthroughs to cancer treatment.

As immunotherapy for cancer becomes an increasingly valuable method for fighting tumors, stories have moved from medical journals into the mainstream media. Immunotherapy was the topic of a recent edition of Leading Edge, a weekly science and technology report featured on PBS News Hour.

Immunotherapy: One Woman’s Story

First up were Melinda Welsh, a journalist who was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, and her oncologist, Dr. Alain Algazi of the University of California, San Francisco. When Melinda’s cancer metastasized, her doctors told her she had no more than a year to live.

Dr. Algazi began treating Melinda with an immunotherapy method known as a checkpoint inhibitor, which releases the “brakes” that prevent the body’s immune system from attacking tumor cells. Melinda then went into remission and continues today, three years after receiving her original diagnosis.

The Immunotherapy Difference

Host Hari Sreenivasan then conducted a discussion with Dr. Jeffery Bluestone, CEO of Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and New York Times reporter Matt Richter.

Highlights of the conversation include:

• Immunotherapy for cancer differs drastically from other treatments in that it uses the body’s natural power rather than poisons to fight tumors.

• Richter, who has profiled a number of cancer patients, characterized immunotherapy as a “quantum leap” in the fight against cancer.

• Dr. Bluestone cited the example of melanoma, which has gone from 5 percent five-year survival to 40 percent five-year survival.

A Personalized Approach

Our non-toxic immunotherapy for cancer treatments are tailored to meet your specific needs. Visit our website to read and hear success stories from patients who have been treated at our Issels® clinics.

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

Immunotherapy Experts Share Opinions on the Future of Treatments

March 28, 2017 Chris 2 Comments

What has made cancer immunotherapy such a promising avenue of treatment and where will it be in the next five to 10 years? Jason Luke, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, recently shared his opinions about the current and future state of immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy Makes the Type of Cancer Irrelevant

As Dr. Luke explains, immunotherapy is about the difference in the immune system’s response to cancer rather than the difference in the types of tumors. Researchers are focusing on the number of mutations rather than the mutations themselves to determine the quality of the baseline immune response.

New technologies such as gene expression profiling make it easier to measure data. The hope is that eventually this will lead to a broader application of immunotherapy as opposed to a cancer-specific one.

Why Does Immunotherapy Work So Well on Lung Cancer and Melanoma?

According to Dr. Luke, the popular hypothesis is that immunotherapy is particularly effective against lung cancer and melanoma due to mutations making these cancer cells stand out more vividly from healthy tissues so the immune system can readily detect them.

Combining Immunotherapy with Other Treatments

There appears to be three main phenotypes in cancer patients that dictate their response to antibodies, from low to medium to high. Dr. Luke feels that combining immunotherapy with chemo and targeted therapies offers the most potential for long-term benefits.

Issels®: The Past, Present and Future of Cancer Immunotherapy

Issels® has been in the forefront of state-of-the-art cancer immunotherapy treatments for decades. Visit our website to learn more about the history of Issels® and our personally developed programs.

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