Tag Archives: cancer care

Living with Cancer, Stage Four Cancer Treatment

The Tough Questions – Should I Travel for Cancer Treatment?

To Travel For Treatment
To Travel For Treatment

Perhaps you’ve just received a cancer diagnosis, and you can’t help but wonder if getting cancer treatment close to home is really the best choice for you. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Many of the patients we serve here at Issels® will tell you that they understand how you feel. The fact is that this is a decision that only you can make. Still, we would like to offer you some information that will help you make the choice that’s right for you.

Treatment Options

The fact is that many oncologists and cancer centers depend on traditional treatment methods when they treat cancer patients. You’ll probably hear words like surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, because these treatment options are the most popular ones being used. Even so, coming to a treatment center like Issels® gives you many more options that just aren’t available everywhere. Cancer vaccines and immunotherapy are just two of the treatments we offer, but your treatment plan will be tailored according to your needs.

Excellent Results

It’s also a good idea to choose a treatment center that has a good reputation for excellent results and remission rates. Remission rates are a good indicator of what you can expect for your cancer treatment, although not all results are typical for every patient’s case.

No matter where you decide to have your cancer treatments, at Issels®, we want you to know that we’re there for you. Our caring staff of professionals is willing to work with you to determine a treatment plan that will work best for you. If you’d like more information about how we can help you, please contact us today.

Cancer Research, Living with Cancer, Testimonials

New Research Tackles Chemotherapy Side Effects

Tackling The Side Effects
Tackling The Side Effects

Researches at Wichita State University are delving into nanotechnology in an effort to decrease the negative side effects cancer drugs have on patients. The technology will be a huge boon to patients suffering the many side effects of cancer treatment: nausea, bowel issues, hair loss, infections, pain, anemia, and more, preventing patients’ bodies from being further weakened by the treatment of the disease.

Technology 100,000 times smaller than a strand of hair
The mighty but miniscule technology has been developed to magnetically target drugs with the goal of localizing treatment effects specifically to tumor sites, thus decreasing the spread and negative effects of the drugs throughout the body.

Positive results have researchers hopeful
Targeted for patients with skin and breast cancer, “in vitro” (petri dish/test tube) studies as well as “in vivo,” studies involving mice, have shown positive results. The group, including WSU professors Ramazan Asmatulu, Paul Wooley, Shang-You Yang, and several graduate students, is in the final stages of receiving a patent from the study, which will later be tried on humans.

How it works
Nanocomposite, magnetic microspheres were created which are capable of carrying protein-based chemotherapy drugs. The spheres are later incorporated with an albumin and biodegradable polymer and injected into the body. With the help of a magnetic field, the accumulation of drugs can be increased at targeted cancer sites.

Looking for cancer treatment options that help build your body without the weakening effects of traditional therapies? Issels® can help. Learn more about our individualized, comprehensive immunotherapy treatments today.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Care Tips, Cancer Research

New Google Tech Aims to Diagnose Cancer

The Latest In Cancer Treatment
The Latest In Cancer Treatment

Since early diagnosis is key to treating cancer and other diseases, mega-corp Google is working on developing technology that will aid in the early diagnosis of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and other diseases, much earlier than is currently possible.

Breakthroughs in nano-technology are hoped to lead the way
Google’s plan is to combine disease-detecting nanoparticles, swallowed via pill, with a wristband that will perform non-invasive blood tests. The goal is for the nanoparticles to identify and match markers for different conditions, then travel back to the wristband to communicate these slight changes in a person’s biochemistry that indicate the early symptoms of disease.

A step ahead
Cancerous and healthy tissues are decidedly distinct, and if Google’s technology is able to identify the unique traces of these unhealthy tissues in the blood before physical symptoms appear, diagnosis can be made when cancer is still preventable or treatable.

Technology dream-team
The product will be developed by the search company’s semi-secret innovation lab, Google X, and led by Dr. Andrew Conrad, molecular biologist and inventor of a now widely used inexpensive HIV test.

Preventing false-positives
Because of the increase in anxiety the identification of these markers could create, Dr. Conrad has emphasized the need for rigorous testing before the product’s release and widespread use to prevent unnecessary worry – or unnecessary treatment. Once released, however, this technology is expected to be a revolutionary and effective weapon in the prevention and treatment of cancer.

Looking for ways to become proactive with your cancer treatment plan? Contact Issels Integrative Oncology today.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy, News

New Advances in Immunotherapy Make the News

In The News
In The News

New Advances in Immunotherapy Treatment for Cancer Targeted immunotherapy for cancer Traditional treatments for cancer take a slash ‘n burn approach, poisoning the entire body in hopes of killing off the cancer cells faster than the healthy cells. Targeted therapies that seek out and kill cancer cells while sparing all others have long been the dream of cancer researchers. Some progress towards targeted therapies has been made. For example, Herceptin and Glivec have given new hope to patients with breast cancer and leukemia.

Immunotherapy is the New “Silver Bullet” for Cancer

Using the immune system to kill cancer cells has always seemed to be a good idea. After all, the immune system’s entire purpose is to seek out diseased cells and destroy them while sparing the healthy cells. What better tool to wipe out cancer cells? Of course this raised the question of why the immune system doesn’t naturally seek out and destroy cancer cells.

The discovery of how some cancer cells manage to stop the immune system from killing them opened up a whole new way to approach cancer treatments. Many cancer cells express a protein called PD-L1 on their surfaces. When T cells (part of the immune system) attempt to kill the abnormal cancer cells the PD-L1 binds to PD-1 on the surface of the T cells. This stops the T cells from attacking the cancer cells.

Nivolumab

A drug called Nivolumab that blocks the interaction of PD-1 with tumor-expressed PD-L1 is the first of the drugs targeting this pathway to make it to the market. In clinical trials Nivolumab has extended the lifespan of patients with advanced melanoma. Without Nivolumab most patients with advanced melanoma don’t survive for a year after diagnosis but with Nivolumab 63% were alive a year later, and even more remarkable 43% were alive two years later.

Nivolumab is only the first of many treatments that will “unmask” tumor cells to the immune system, allowing the immune system to do what it does best- target and kill diseased cells. Other companies have drugs in development targeting the PD-1 pathway.

Immune system unmasking drugs will join cancer vaccines and other therapies intended to use the immune system to fight cancer naturally. Issels Integrative Oncology has been offering individualized immunotherapy for over 60 years to cancer victims.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

Blood Samples Being Used to Personalize Breast Cancer Treatment

Alternative Cancer Treatment
Alternative Cancer Treatment

Boston scientists are attempting to use blood samples to personalize breast cancer treatment for women with rare forms of the disease. After filtering tumor cells from patient blood samples, researchers have been studying how the cells grow and begun to experiment with possible solutions for halting cell growth. The new technique has the potential to allow “real time monitoring” of tumor changes and usher in a new era of individually designed cancer treatments.

“Tumors change, and from the time that a woman is diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer that needs to be treated to the time that multiple treatments have worked and stop working, the tumors have evolved,” Dr. Daniel Haber of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center recently told the Boston Globe.

Real Time Monitoring

The new technique would allow oncologists to monitor tumor development and treatment resistance in real time and make treatment adjustments more quickly, hopefully preventing the spread of cancer and hastening the administration of more effective targeted therapies. The ability to track such changes through blood tests could also spare breast cancer patients the trauma of multiple invasive biopsies.

When Cancer Cells Circulate

The circulation of cancer cells in the blood stream is considered a strong indicator that cancer is spreading beyond the original tumor site. Cancer cell circulation is also believed to be a primary mechanism for metastasis. The ability to track the real time emergence of cancer cell mutations through blood samples is still a work in progress. While intriguing, researchers were only able to culture cancer cells in one-sixth of the blood samples.

Visit our website to learn about Issels personalized treatment programs for breast and other cancers.

Cancer Research, Living with Cancer

Friends and Family Rally to Promote Cancer Research and Awareness

Family Portrait
Family Members Supporting a Cancer Patient

It’s difficult to find anyone whose life hasn’t been touched by cancer. The person in front of you at the grocery store or sitting next to you in the movie theater could tell you about a family member or co-worker diagnosed with the disease. Inspired by their courage, these friends and family members carry on a message of hope by working to find a cure.

At the age of 31, Detroit-area attorney Jacqueline Bailey was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. Her two-year battle led her caring friends to create a legacy for her by founding the Jacqueline E. Bailey Foundation. Ms. Bailey’s wish was that no other 31-year-old woman would have to receive similar news. The foundation has partnered with the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute to fund an early detection test for ovarian cancer.

Cyclist Maria Parker’s motivation came from her sister Jenny Mulligan, diagnosed with stage four brain cancer in 2012. Maria entered the 2013 Race Across America to raise money and awareness for cancer research. When mid-race problems caused her to consider quitting, a conversation with her sister spurred her on. Her inspiration led Maria to finish first in the women’s group while setting a record in her 50+ age range. Jenny’s son Timothy filmed a documentary of the experience with which he and Maria hope to raise $1 million for ABC2, a brain cancer reorganization.

The love and support of friends and family is an important source of strength when receiving a diagnosis of stage four cancer. Our alternative cancer therapy uses a personal approach to ensure that we address your specific needs.