Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Immunotherapy, News

National Cancer Institute Advances Research on Cancer Diagnosis

Advances In Fighting Cancer
Advances In Fighting Cancer

Diagnosing cancer goes far beyond simply confirming its existence. The effectiveness of immunotherapy for cancer and other forms of treatment improves greatly with timely and accurate information from high-tech diagnostic tools.

National Cancer Institute Spearheads Diagnostic Research

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) supports development of sophisticated equipment and testing through its Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis. Ongoing programs maintained by the division include:

  • Program for the Assessment of Clinical Cancer Tests (PACCT), which aims to break down barriers that hinder accurate diagnostic testing.
  • Strategic Partnering to Evaluate Cancer Signatures (SPECS), which looks for ways to use data from molecular analyses to improve care and treatment of cancer patients.
  • Cancer Imaging Program (CIP), which focuses on non-invasive imaging techniques to diagnose cancer along with specific subsets.

Why Diagnostic Procedures are Important

In addition to identifying the presence and extent of cancer, diagnostic tools are useful throughout the course of a patient’s treatment. Healthcare teams use them to recognize and classify specific genetic changes, determine the best course of treatment, and monitor patients for recurrence of cancer cells.

Ironically, as the effectiveness of tools and techniques has increased, so has the number of over-diagnosed tumors that are unlikely to have serious consequences. Researchers are also concentrating on ways to more accurately evaluate the data being provided by diagnostics.

Issels® is in the Forefront of Modern Diagnostic and Treatment Techniques

Our Issels® team stays up-to-date on the most advanced diagnostic methods as well as state-of-the-art immunotherapy for cancer treatments. Contact us today to learn how our personally tailored treatment protocols have helped patients with all forms of cancer.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Care Tips, Cancer Research

National Cancer Institute: Environmental Cancer Causing Agents Act at the DNA Level

Cancer Can Be Caused at The DNA Level
Cancer Can Be Caused at The DNA Level

Reducing your risk of cancer involves more than eating a healthy diet that is low in fat and high in nutrients. Exposure to certain environmental factors can set the stage for development of cancer by actually causing damage to your DNA.

Everyday Exposure to Cancer-Causing Elements

As explained by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), cancer occurs when genes mutate in such a way that cell replication and growth is severely altered. While this can occur naturally, specific elements of the environment have been found to inflict this type of damage on DNA.

Here are some of the environmental carcinogens that present the biggest risk of causing cancer. Some are difficult to avoid, but others are more easily controlled.

  • Aflatoxins, which are associated with risk of liver cancer, are produced by mold that’s most often found on crops such as corn and peanuts. Aspergillus is the most common variety of aflatoxin-producing mold.
  • Tobacco smoke is one of the more highly publicized carcinogens. One obvious solution is to quit smoking or never start, but second-hand smoke is harder to avoid.
  • Asbestos releases minute fibers into the air when damaged. Ingesting these fibers can lead to lung cancer or mesothelioma. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration has instituted strict measures governing the use of asbestos, which have greatly reduced its risk.

NCI emphasizes that exposure to these elements doesn’t guarantee cancer. Factors such as length of exposure and individual genetic makeup also play a part.

Issels® and Non-Toxic Immunotherapy for Cancer

At Issels®, we understand that lifestyle and environment make each patient’s case unique. Contact us to learn more about our individually tailored immunotherapy for cancer.

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

Dendritic Cell Therapy Has Been Funded by the American Cancer Society

Advances in Cancer Therapies
Advances in Cancer Therapy

As part of the American Cancer Society’s initiative to eliminate cancer, they have funded research by some of the most brilliant minds in the medical field. Among the 46 ACS-funded scientists who have gone on to win the Nobel Prize is a doctor who did groundbreaking work involving dendritic cell therapy.

Top Scientists Go to Bat for ACS

Immunotherapy for cancer received a major boost when Dr. Ralph M. Steinman of Rockefeller University discovered the dendritic cell, which plays a vital role in the function of the immune system. Dendritic cells trigger responses in T cells, allowing them to more effectively target invading cancer cells.

Dr. Bruce A. Beutler, professor of genetics and immunology at Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, is another Nobel laureate who received a grant from ACS. Along with his colleague Jules Hoffman, head of a laboratory in Strasburg, France, Dr. Beutler conducted extensive research concerning innate immunity, which is the body’s first line of defense against cancer cells and other invaders.

ACS Grants Lead to Improved Cancer Treatments

Dr. Stein’s work led to the development of Provenge, a prostate cancer vaccine that has become a valuable part of immunotherapy for cancer. The findings of Dr. Beutler could ultimately result in more effective treatments for cancer as well as rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic inflammatory diseases.

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

Cancer vaccines are just one of the advanced non-toxic therapies used at our Issels® center. Contact us to learn more about how our personalized immunotherapy protocols have helped patients with all forms of cancer, including leukemia, melanoma and breast cancer.

Cancer Research, News

World Cancer Research Fund: Your Weight Does Impact Cancer Risk

Maintaining a Healthy Weight Reduces Cancer Risk
Maintaining a Healthy Weight Reduces Cancer Risk

Maintaining a healthy weight is beneficial mentally and emotionally as well as physically. Excess weight is linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many other serious health problems. In addition, statistics show that obesity presents the strongest cancer risk of any lifestyle factors.

The Link between Cancer and Lifestyle

According to the World Cancer Research Fund, 20 percent of cancer cases in the United States are at least partially attributable to one or more of these lifestyle factors:

  • Obesity
  • Lack of physical activity
  • Excessive alcohol consumption
  • Inadequate nutrition

Out of these four elements, excess body weight contributes to 20 percent of all cancer-related deaths.

How Excess Weight Affects Cancer Risk

Excess body fat creates a number of imbalances that can lead to the development or growth of cancer cells, such as:

  • Interference with the immune system response
  • Skewed levels of hormones, as well as the proteins that help the body process them
  • Improper levels of substances that control cell growth

Does Weight Loss Help?

While studies regarding weight loss and cancer are still limited, growing evidence suggests that it can reduce the risk of post-menopausal breast cancer and more aggressive forms of prostate cancer. Ongoing tests are examining the relationship between weight loss and other forms of cancer.

The weight per se is not the contributing factor. It’s the physical changes weight loss brings, such as normalizing hormone levels that help reduce cancer risk.

Immunotherapy for Cancer Includes Lifestyle Considerations

Cancer Research, News

Very Hot Beverages Classed as Cancer Causing by WHO

Coffee Is Unlikely To Cause Cancer
Coffee Is Unlikely To Cause Cancer

If you’re a coffee drinker, you’ll be happy to hear that the World Health Organization (WHO) has downgraded coffee as a cancer risk. But make sure you’re not drinking it at excessively high temperatures, as hot beverages are now classified as carcinogens.

Coffee is “Unlikely to Cause” Cancer

WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), composed of 23 scientists from 10 countries, put coffee on its list of possible cancer risks in 1991, when studies revealed a link to bladder cancer. Modern, more sophisticated tests have shown there is no way to prove a definitive connection.

Further review of current studies has led IARC to conclude that coffee most likely does not cause breast cancer, prostate cancer or pancreatic cancer, while risks of liver cancer and endometrial cancer may actually be reduced. Coffee beans contain antioxidants, which are believed to protect against cancer, but increased consumption of caffeine can lead to other health problems, including insomnia and migraines.

Link between Cancer and Excessively Hot Beverages

Studies of hot beverages focused on consumption of mate, a caffeine-rich tea popular in South America. A link was found between mate and esophageal cancer, but the drink is traditionally served at temperatures above 149°F, while in the United States coffee and other hot drinks are served at lower temperatures.

Immunotherapy for Cancer Fights Bladder, Esophageal and All Forms of Cancer

Our Issels® center, a longtime leader in state-of-the-art immunotherapy for cancer, has successfully treated patients with all forms of cancer, ranging from bladder and esophageal to breast and lung. Contact us to learn more about our non-toxic personally developed immunotherapy treatments.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Immunotherapy, Uncategorized

Non-Specific Cancer Immunotherapy Stimulates the Immune System

New Immunotherapy Drugs Can Help Fight Bladder Cancer
Non Targeted Immunotherapy

Targeted cancer therapies work by directly interacting with molecules that aid the growth and spread of cancer cells. Non-specific immunotherapy for cancer acts behind the scenes to bolster the immune system’s ability to fight cancer cells.

Types of Non-Specific Cancer Immunotherapy

Some non-specific therapies are administered on their own, while others are used as adjutants, which means they are used to supplement a main treatment such as a cancer vaccine. A few therapies are used in both ways, depending on the form of cancer being treated.

  • Cytokines are chemicals produced by certain immune cells that play an important role in the growth and activity of other immune cells. They are divided into interleukins, which speed up growth and division of immune cells, and interferons, which aid the body in resisting cancer as well as viral infections.
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors help the immune system identify cancer cells that use certain proteins to evade detection.
  • Immunomodulating drugs (IMiDs) such as thalidomide, lenalidomide and pomalidomide appear to give a general boost to the immune system, although at present it’s not known exactly how they work.
  • Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a germ that triggers the immune system by infecting tissue, although it doesn’t present a threat of serious disease. BCG is one of the earliest forms of immunotherapy for cancer.

Issels® Uses Both Targeted and Non-Specific Immunotherapy

As a leader in the field of immunotherapy for cancer, Issels® uses advanced methods such as vaccines and LAK cells in our individually tailored treatment protocols. Contact us to learn more about how immunotherapy may be the answer for you.

Individualized Cancer Treatment