Cancer Treatment, Uncategorized

Chemicals Found in Leafy Greens May Prevent Colon Cancer

The number of colon cancer cases in the U.S. has been on the rise, especially among younger adults. Since effective cancer treatment for this disease can be hard to achieve, scientists are looking for better ways to prevent colon cancer. Vegetables might prove to be one way to reduce the risk of this disease.

Vegetable Chemicals and Gut Health

Researchers conducting a study on mice found that chemicals in certain vegetables, such as broccoli and cabbage, might play a key role in preventing colon cancer. These chemicals were found that help reduce the risk of gut inflammation and the development of colon cancer in mice.

The mice in this study were genetically modified and unable to naturally produce a certain protein that guards against gut inflammation. Scientists fed these mice vegetables containing chemicals needed to produce this protein and found that they did not develop colon cancer. The mice that were not fed these vegetables did not have this same protection and readily developed gut inflammation and colon cancer.

Colon Cancer Prevention in Humans

While the results of this study offer some hope, it’s important to keep in mind that they worked on mice. Further studies are needed to determine if the same results are found in humans. However, eating vegetables in general is considered a good way to boost your health and well-being.

Some studies have found that vegetables appear to offer protection against cancer in humans. Eating a healthy diet that includes these vegetables while also avoiding unhealthy foods may help reduce the risk of colon cancer and other cancers.

If you’re exploring cancer treatment options for colon cancer or other forms of cancer, please contact Issels® today. We can provide details on our immunotherapy modalities that are used to treat different kinds of cancer.

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.

Cancer Treatment, Uncategorized

Will an Immune Profile Show if Immunotherapy Will be an Effective Cancer Treatment?

At Issels®, our cancer immunotherapy programs are tailored to fit a patient’s specific needs. Scientist have identified an immune profile that could lead to improved methods of determining which patients may benefit from treatment.

Building a Team of “Allies”

While T cells in the immune system are equipped to fight tumors, cancer cells frequently neutralize them by triggering the response that shuts T cells down. Checkpoint inhibitors are a form of immunotherapy that counteracts the process, enabling T cells to resume their job of attacking cancer cells.

Matthew “Max” Krummel, PhD, a leader in the field of immunotherapy, explains why his team broadened their focus to include other immune cells. They studied every type of cell in tumors to determine which ones could also activate T cells, forming a community of “allies.”

Boosting the T Cell Immune Response

Krummel, a member of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, led his team in identifying a special class of dendritic cell, which they refer to as stimulatory dendritic cells, or SDCs. In subsequent studies, they found that both mice and humans with tumors had a poor response to checkpoint inhibitors if they lacked SDCs.

The research team went on to explore why different patients have different SDC levels. They discovered a direct correlation between levels of a specific cytokine, expressed by natural killer cells, and levels of SDC.

Kevin Barry, PhD and leader of the latest study, said the results hold promising implications for two applications. NK cells and SDCs could be used as biomarkers to predict successful immunotherapy, while increasing NK cell levels in other patients could improve their response to treatment.

State-of-the-Art Cancer Immunotherapy

For years, Issels® has been a leader of integrating dendritic and NK cells in our cancer immunotherapy treatments. Contact us to learn more.

Cancer Care Tips, Cancer Caregivers, Cancer Research, Living with Cancer

Cancer Patients Can Benefit From Hands-On Therapies

If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, “the human touch” is more than just a figure of speech. Hands-on therapies can help reduce stress, boost your spirits, and reduce physical pain.

How “Healing Hands” Boost the Fight against Cancer

There is scientific research to back up the positive claims of touch therapy. One widely publicized study involved a group of married women who were threatened with a mild electric shock, but their anxiety levels dropped instantly with a touch from their husbands’ hands.

Chronic stress and depression inhibit your body’s immune system, making it more vulnerable to invading cancer cells. Touch therapy can improve your overall wellness so you’re better equipped to fight the disease.

3 Popular Touch Therapy Techniques:

  • Body psychotherapy goes beyond talk therapy, helping you tune in to bodily sensations that uncover deep emotional traumas. Methods focus on various elements such as muscle contraction, breathing and posture.
  • Physical therapy addresses pain and limited movement in muscles, joints and other tissues. According to one study, women who had undergone breast cancer surgery and worked with a physical therapist had less pain and better quality of life than others who exercised on their own.
  • Massage therapy may seem like a luxury, but it actually triggers brain activity that increases serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical, and reduces the stress hormone cortisol.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: An Integrative Approach

At Issels®, our innovative immunotherapy for cancer uses a comprehensive mind-body approach to attack cancer cells while restoring your natural immune response. Visit our website for more information about our non-toxic, personally tailored treatment programs.

Individualized Cancer Treatment