Tag Archives: Integrative Medicine

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy, Uncategorized

Could This Bacterial Molecule Stimulate the Immune System to Fight Cancer?

Get The Treatment You Need with Us!
Get The Treatment You Need with Us!

There’s a popular saying that goes, “Everything old is new again.” This may also hold true with immunotherapy for cancer, as researchers explore the possibility of enlisting your body’s ancient defenses against bacterial threats to fight tumors.

Going Back to the Future

A team at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle recently conducted a trial of an experimental drug on 15 patients with advanced sarcoma. The drug, known as G100, was based on a molecule called lipopolysaccharide that is carried within certain bacteria.

Lipopolysaccharide is unique to these organisms, so its presence has historically triggered a prompt and powerful inflammatory response. According to scientists, the pathway to this response dates back so far in the evolutionary cycle that it’s nearly identical in all animals.

Over a period of two to three months, participants received an injection of G100 directly into the tumor, along with a course of focused radiation. The injected tumors stopped growing, shrank or even disappeared in 14 of the 15 patients, while tumor growth throughout the body stopped in six of them.

Boosting the Body’s Immune System

Researchers are theorizing that the drug makes the tumor “hot” in terms of activating an immune response aimed specifically at the cancer cells. The next step involves combining G100 injections with an as-yet-undecided immunotherapy agent to see if the treatment can boost the cancer-fighting immune response throughout the body.

Using State-of-the-Art Methods to Fight Cancer

At Issels®, we stay up-to-date on all the latest advancements in immunotherapy for cancer. Contact us to learn more about our non-toxic, integrative treatment programs that are specifically designed for your individual needs.

Alternative Cancer Treatment

Integrative Approach Pushes Cancer Survival Rates Beyond 10-Year Mark

10 is the Magic Number
10 is the Magic Number

Five years used to be the magical mark cancer survivors hoped to reach. If your cancer didn’t return within five years of completing treatment, you could start to breathe a little easier and feel hopeful about the future. Improvements in cancer treatment, early screening and cancer prevention have pushed the boundary between fear and hope back another five years.

Half of all newly diagnosed cancer patients now survive for at least 10 years, according to Cancer Research UK. With longer survival rates, some researchers are suggesting that many forms of cancer should now be considered and treated as chronic, rather than fatal, diseases.

War on Cancer Reaches Tipping Point

“The reason this 50% figure is an important tipping point is that it’s saying that now half of all patients will survive at least 10 years after a diagnosis and for many it will be very much longer than that,” Dr. Harpal Kumar, CEO of Cancer Research UK told London’s Daily & Sunday Express. I think that does represent a change in the way we should be thinking about cancer.”

Integrative Medicine Changing Treatment

The integrative approach toward treating cancer that has slowly been replacing Western medicine’s traditional reliance on surgery, chemotherapy and radiation may have much to do with the trend toward longer cancer survival rates. That has certainly been our experience at Issels Centers for Integrative Medicine in Tijuana, Mexico and Santa Barbara, California.

A leader in the field of integrative cancer treatments for more than 60 years, Issels’ cancer treatment teams have enjoyed unique success in the treatment of many forms of cancer using individualized immunotherapy. By integrating various alternative cancer treatments into our non-toxic immunobiologic core treatment program, Issels had been able to help many patients achieve complete long-term remission of their cancer.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

Patients Respond to Benefits of Integrative Cancer Therapy

Alternative Cancer Treatments are Worth a Try
Alternative Cancer Treatments are Worth a Try

It is unfortunate that Richard Howard did not discover the benefits of integrative cancer therapy until the final year of his 10-year battle with cancer. His family credits integrative therapies with the gains that allowed him to remain with his family a while longer and the increased feelings of comfort and well-being he experienced during his final year.

There is no way to know if Mr. Howard’s outcome would have been different had he embraced integrative cancer therapy sooner or obtained treatment at an experienced Center for Integrative Medicine rather than a local pilot program. What we do know is that over our more than 60-year history practicing integrative immunotherapy Issels Integrative Oncology has helped many cancer patients achieve complete long-term remission of advanced cancers and cancers that have proven resistant to standard treatment.

Mr. Howard’s daughter Sara, who encouraged her father to try integrative therapies, told the Litchfield (Connecticut) County Times, “I was like, ‘Dad, why not just try it?’ … I researched it and saw all the beneficial things it could do. He did and it was like, ‘Wow!’ and opening up this door for him to a whole other side of medicine.”

An engineer, Mr. Howard was at first skeptical of integrative therapies but was quickly won over by the increased comfort, sense of well-being and mobility he experienced following his first few alternative cancer therapies. The pilot program Mr. Howard participated in was limited to the integration of several Eastern medicine techniques such as acupuncture and massage; but a fully-developed, comprehensive integrative immunotherapy program can offer cancer patients a plethora of beneficial alternative cancer treatment options designed to support and enhance each other.

At Issels Integrative Oncology, we turn skeptics into believers every day. Click to hear what our patients have to say.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy

New Focus on Colorectal Cancer Treatments

Cancer Treatment
Cancer Treatment

Integrative medical treatments for colorectal cancer were the subject of a recent episode of Fox News’ Sunday Housecall. Advancements in integrative immunotherapy, cancer vaccines and advanced targeted therapies have more patients – and their doctors – incorporating alternative cancer therapies into their treatment protocols for colorectal cancer and many other forms of cancer.

Patients are looking for non-toxic cancer treatment options that don’t have the debilitating side effects of the big three treatment standards — surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. They are finding the options they seek in individualized cancer therapies grounded in integrative immunotherapy. The unique complexities of colorectal cancer and other forms of gastrointestinal cancer particularly lend themselves to individualized cancer treatment protocols. Also of note is the effectiveness of cancer vaccines in the treatment of colorectal cancer, specifically autologous dendritic cell vaccines.

While considered a largely preventable cancer, colorectal cancer often goes undetected in its early stages. It may be several years before patients present symptoms. Symptoms can vary with the location of the tumor but may include fatigue, weakness, abdominal pain, weight loss, shortness of breath, spastic colon, diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease, peptic ulcers, bloody stool, diarrhea or constipation.

Diet education is part of Issels’ holistic approach to cancer treatment. To help prevent colorectal cancer, a diet rich in fiber and colorful fruits and vegetables is recommended. Choose deeply pigmented foods such as blueberries, cranberries, pomegranates, carrots, red peppers, kale, broccoli, spinach and red cabbage.

Visit our website to find out more about Issels integrative immunotherapy program for the treatment of cancer and other immune diseases. We offer a full spectrum of alternative cancer treatments and immune disease therapies at our inpatient clinic in Tijuana, Mexico and the comprehensive immunobiologic core treatment at our outpatient medical center in Santa Barbara, California.

Immunotherapy, Testimonials

Patients Call Results of Immunotherapy Cancer Treatment “Miraculous”

Alternative Cancer Treatment
Alternative Cancer Treatment

Cancer researchers and physicians involved in clinical trials are calling a new immunotherapy treatment for cancer “a breakthrough.” Patients are calling it “a miracle.” A form of immunotherapy, the new cancer treatment is called immune-checkpoint blockade. An advanced targeted cancer therapy, the treatment uses chemically produced monoclonal antibodies to target specific molecules on cell surfaces. The antibodies clear roadblocks created by the cancer cells themselves that can hinder the immune system’s natural ability to protect itself. With roadblocks removed, immune system cells are free to attack and annihilate cancer cells. The results have been impressive and appear to be long-term.

“Research activity is just going through the roof,” Johns Hopkins University cancer immunologist Suzanne Topalian told the Washington Post, noting that the therapy is being tested on melanoma, lung and kidney cancers with smaller trials on a laundry list of other cancers. In five years, many immunologists expect checkpoint inhibitors and other immunotherapy treatments to be used as primary cancer treatments for the majority of advanced cancer cases diagnosed in the U.S. That would be a considerable and welcome departure from American medicine’s current dependency on surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

Immune-checkpoint blockade has startling similarities to the integrative immunotherapy that has been practiced at Issels Integrative Oncology Centers for decades. However, where the new technique uses chemically engineered antibodies, Issels’ integrative immunotherapy is completely non-toxic, using autologous vaccines prepared from the patient’s own blood to enhance the natural immune system response of cytokines, natural killer cells, LAK cells and T-cells. (Click the link for an explanation of how these immune factors interact.)

At Issels alternative cancer treatment centers we have been practicing integrative immunotherapy for more than 60 years, so it is naturally gratifying to see Western medicine walking in our footsteps.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy, News

Colon Cancer Awareness Month Emphasizes Prevention

Help those in your family get screened for Colon Cancer.
Help those in your family get screened for Colon Cancer.

The reaction in Times Square is about what you’d expect when people walk through a giant inflatable colon for the first time: embarrassed giggles, outright laughter and, yes, fart noises! The giant colon was on display March 1 to promote the start of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Talk show host Katie Couric, who famously underwent an on-air colonoscopy when she hosted the Today show, led a tweet chat to promote colon cancer education and prevention.One in 20 people will be diagnosed with colon cancer this year, according to the Colon Cancer Alliance. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the U.S. and second deadliest, but the prognosis for colon cancer is looking up. When discovered and treated early, colon cancer is highly preventable and has a 90% survival rate.

An aggressive campaign to promote regular colon cancer screenings starting at age 50 (earlier if colon cancer runs in your family) has significantly decreased new cases of colon cancer in the U.S. and decreased the death rate by more than 30%, according to The Doctors. (Click the link to watch The Doctors discuss ways to minimize colon cancer risk.) With increased screenings, 40% of colon cancers are now found early.

Unfortunately, without regular screenings, many colon cancers are not detected until they reach an advanced stage. Lack of early symptoms and/or symptoms that mimic other common intestinal and bowel issues can delay diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Issels Integrative Oncology offers hope for late-stage colon cancer. (Click here to hear about patient remissions.)

Watch our tweets tomorrow for preventative measures that may help lower your colon cancer risk.