Category Archives: Immunotherapy

Cancer Research, Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy Could Be Key to Beating Pancreatic Cancer

Immunotherapy May Be The Key To Success With Pancreatic Cancer
Immunotherapy May Be The Key To Success With Pancreatic Cancer

With a mortality rate of 96%, pancreatic cancer is considered the deadliest type of cancer, all but incurable. But a growing number of studies suggest that an alternative cancer treatment, immunotherapy, may hold the key to beating this typically fatal form of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society estimates, pancreatic cancer is expected to kill an estimated 38,500 Americans this year.

But hope may be on the horizon. An increasing body of research suggests that bacterial infections, particularly in the stomach and gums, play a significant role in the development of pancreatic cancer and may even act as a trigger for the disease.

Cancer researchers have been searching for a link between known risk factors for pancreatic cancer: smoking, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, alcoholism and pancreatitis — without success until now. As reported in Live Science, that link may be the presence of two specific bacteria:

  • Helicobacter pylori which has been linked to stomach cancer and peptic ulcers, and
  • Porphyrmomonas gingivalis which has been linked to poor dental hygiene and gum disease.

Scientists now believe that these bacteria affect the body’s immune system, promoting widespread infection and preventing the immune system from defending the body. The primary risk factors of pancreatic cancer are already known to weaken immune system response. The combination of an already weakened immune system and a virulent bacterial attack may simply overwhelm the body’s ability to fight back, promoting the growth of cancer cells in the pancreas.

Immunotherapy to boost the immune system may provide the best hope of remission and possible recovery from pancreatic cancer and other cancers linked to immune system response.

 

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy

New T-Cell Immunotherapy Treatment Targets Cancer Cells

New Immunotherapy Technique
New Immunotherapy Technique

A British company has developed a way to harness the body’s T cells to fight cancer. An integral part of our body’s immune system, T cells are like a standing army waiting for battle orders. When pathogens invade, the body sends these specialized white blood cells to search for and destroy invading cells. However, T cells haven’t been as good at targeting cancer cells as they are at targeting other pathogens. Immunocore may have solved that problem.

Immunocore has engineered T cell receptor proteins to recognize and bind to specific cancer-causing peptides in cancer cells, killing the diseased cells without harming healthy cells. (Click to view How It Works in The Independent.)

“Immunotherapy is radically different,” Bent Jakobsen, Immunocore’s chief science officer told The Independent. “It doesn’t do away with the other cancer treatments by any means, but it adds something to the arsenal that has one unique feature — it may have the potency to actually cure cancer.”

Unlike chemotherapy and radiation treatments which have a destructive impact on the body, immunotherapy works with the body, harnessing the immune system to protect against and kill cancer cells. Led by recent cutting-edge advancements in gene- and cell-driven cancer therapies, immunotherapy represents a sea change in the traditional approach to cancer treatment that, interestingly, brings it into alignment with Issels’ alternative cancer therapies.

Issels Integrative Oncology has been a worldwide leader in integrative immunotherapy and science-based alternative cancer treatments for more than 60 years. Visit our website to hear what Issels’ patients have to say about our enviable history of complete long-term cancer remissions, including advanced-stage and standard therapy-resistant cancers.

After Cancer, Immunotherapy

Coming Back from Cancer Treatment: Boost Your Body’s Immunity

Boost your immunity after chemotherapy
Boost your immunity after chemotherapy

Call it chemotherapy’s double-edged sword: the same powerful drugs that kill malignant cancer cells also wreak havoc on the rest of your body’s systems. The side effects go beyond hair loss, nausea and fatigue – you may be at risk for a compromised immune system.

In fact, according to Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, 14th edition, “Autopsy studies show that most deaths from acute leukemia and half of deaths from lymphoma are caused directly by infection. With more intensive chemotherapy, patients with solid tumors have become more likely to die of infection rather than underlying disease.”

If you are undergoing or have recently completed a course of chemotherapy and radiation, you can take two important steps to boost your immune system and aid recovery.

  • Diet. A well-balanced diet rich in iron is a natural way to enrich your immune system. Maximize iron absorption  by drinking orange or grapefruit juice and adding sliced tomatoes or salsa to your entrée, and avoiding coffee, tea and milk with your meals. Herbs that boost immunity include astragalus, andrographis and ginseng. And a recent study pointed to fish oil as possibly beneficial to people with compromised immune systems.
  • Exercise. Getting your strength back after cancer treatment is a long process, but exercise can help you feel like your old self again. Harvard Medical School notes that “even though a direct beneficial link hasn’t been established, it’s reasonable to      consider moderate regular exercise to be a beneficial arrow in the quiver of healthy living, a potentially important means for keeping your immune   system healthy along with the rest of your body.”
Alternative Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy

Cellular Game of ‘Chase and Run’ Provides Clues to Why Cancer Spreads

New Immunotherapy Technique
New Immunotherapy Technique

A breakthrough British study has identified cell behavior that  researchers at University College London believe explains why cancer spreads. Aptly called “chase and run” by its discoverers, the mechanism describes the interesting interaction between healthy and diseased cells in the body.

The discovery is expected to aid in the development of new and even more effective immunotherapy treatments for cancer. But the British researchers have even higher expectations for their discovery. They believe they are on the path to finding an immunobiologic cure for cancer.

The study has identified what researchers call the “chase and run” effect in which diseased and healthy cells chase each other around the body. When cancer is present, it is believed that this game of cellular tag promotes the spread of cancer to other parts of the body. The British researchers believe that it should be “fairly easy” to stop the chase and run effect and keep tumors in one place.

If their theory proves true, it could revolutionize cancer therapy, making it easier to treat and remove cancer tumors.

“‘Most deaths  are not due to the formation of the primary tumor.” study spokesman Roberto Mayor told the United Kingdom’s Daily Mail. “Instead, people die from secondary tumors originating from the first malignant cells, which are able to travel and  colonize vital organs of the body such as the lungs or the brain. This happens because the cells get healthy ones to follow them.”

The study was conducted on frog embryos, not cancer cells so additional research will be required; but the initial findings are promising.

Cancer Research, Immunotherapy

New Evidence Demonstrates Immunotherapy’s Effectiveness against Cancer

 

Alternative Healing
Alternative Healing

Immunotherapy was again validated as an effective means of fighting cancer and prolonging life when new cancer research results were presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, study results were heralded by many of the 30,000 cancer specialists in attendance as “a breakthrough” with the potential to change the direction of mainstream cancer treatment protocols.

Among the more interesting cancer study results were increased survival rates for some of the new immunotherapy drugs either alone or in combination with other drugs. The conference was the first time long-term results were reported for some of the most promising new cancer drugs currently in development.

Immunotherapy treatments are designed to work with the patient’s own immune system, stimulating it to target and destroy cancer cells. Many members of the cancer community believe immunotherapy is revolutionizing the way we treat cancer. A growing history of success indicates that immunotherapy treatment protocols have the potential to significantly improve survival rates in patients with many types of tumors, including often fatal lung and kidney cancer. Of equal importance is growing evidence that immunotherapy can successfully treat advanced stages of cancer.

Immunotherapy cancer treatments are already used extensively in alternative cancer therapy. Our founder, the renowned German cancer specialist Dr. Josef M. Issels, was an early pioneer in the use of immunotherapy to treat cancer. Issels Integrative Oncology Centers have more than 60 years of experience using immunotherapy to successfully treat a wide variety of cancers at all stages of development.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy Called ‘Paradigm Shift’ in Cancer Treatment

Immune System Boosters
Immune System Boosters

Big Pharma is jumping on the immunotherapy band wagon. According to Bloomberg.com, major drug companies are poised to introduce a new generation of experimental cancer drugs that use the immune system to target and destroy tumor cells. Big Pharma may be putting a new twist on immunotherapy, but the treatment philosophy is hardly new. Alternative cancer treatment centers were early to recognize the importance the human immune system plays in fighting cancer. Immune-boosting cancer vaccines and integrative immunotherapy have been cornerstones of Issels Integrative Oncology treatment protocols for 60 years.

Motivated by billions of dollars in potential drug sales, drug companies are waiting for study results scheduled for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology at the end of May before launching new drugs.

[Immunotherapy] “is going to be a paradigm shift for treating cancer. We are pretty good at shrinking tumors but not good at getting rid of them. Immune therapy is a way to begin to approach that,” Merck VP Gary Gilliland told Bloomberg.

Drug makers estimate it will take a year to determine the effectiveness of new immunotherapy drugs to increase cancer survival rates and extend lives. Bloomberg notes “the strategy offers scientists the first major new avenue for attacking cancer in a decade.”

Rather than waiting for Big Pharma to complete its testing, we’d like to recommend that people with cancer review the patient testimonials on our website. We’ve been using immunotherapy to fight cancer for more than 60 years and many of our patients have enjoyed complete long-term cancer remissions. Visit our website to hear what they have to say.