Immunotherapy

Car T-cells are more formally known as chimeric antigen receptors. These cells are genetically modified t-cells that are designed to target tumor cells. These CAR t-cells work by circulating through the blood looking for cells that they can bind to. The receptors of these cells are specifically designed to recognize a pattern that is common cancer. Once they cell comes into contact with the specific receptor, cell will then attack and destroy the cancer, but also can tell the rest of the body that there is a problem. The additional hope is that the CAR-T cells will create memory cells within the body as a normal T-cell. In the simplest explanation, CAR-T cells are genetically modified to attack cells the body would otherwise not recognize.

A key factor in the development of tumors is the ability of cancerous cells to evade recognition from the bodies’ natural defense against cancer, the immune system. Immunotherapies effectively block the pathways that shield cancerous cells from being identified, and thus the promote the bodies own anti-tumor response. However, one challenge to immunotherapy has been its combination with chemotherapy, the mainstay of cancer treatment. While chemotherapy is extremely effective in stopping the rapid division of cancerous cells, its toxic immunosuppressive side-effect make it difficult to combine with

There are many different type of cancers, there are also many different types of treatments. One of the most known types of treatments would be chemotherapy. Chemotherapy can be used for a wide range of different types of cancers and diseases, and each of the different types of cancers or diseases require a different group, and sometimes order, of chemicals to properly treat the cancer or disease. These chemicals include: Alkylating agents, Antimetabolites, Anthracyclines, Topoisomerase inhibitors, mitotic inhibitors, corticosteroids, and more. Each of these drugs previously listed have its own cancer type(s) or disease(s) that it can assist in treating. Some of these cancers include: Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin disease, multiple

The organs that make up the lymphatic and immune system are the tonsils, spleen, thymus gland, lymph nodes, and lymphatic vessels. White blood cells (leukocytes), red blood cells (erythrocytes), plasma, and platelets (thrombocytes) make up the blood. Lymphocytes are leukocytes (white blood cells) that help the body fight off diseases. Two types of lymphocytes are B cells and T cells. Lymphocytes recognize antigens, or foreign substances/matter, in the body. Lymphocytes are a classification of agranulocytes, or cells (-cytes) without (a-) granules (granul/o) in the cytoplasm. B cells are created from stem cells, which are located in the bone marrow. B cells respond to antigens by becoming plasma cells. These plasma cells then create antibodies. Memory B cells produce a stronger response with the next exposure to the antigen. B cells fight off infection and bacteria while T cells defend against viruses and cancer cells. A hormone created by the thymus gland called thymosin changes lymphocytes into T cells. The thymus gland is active when you are a child and slowly shrinks, as you get older. T cells bind to the antigens on the cells and directly attack them. T cells secrete lymphokines that increase T cell production and directly kill cells with antigens. There are three types of T cells: cytotoxic T cells, helper T cells, and memory T cells.

Cancer immunotheraphy is a concept that has been around for centuries. Back in the 1800s, a bone surgeon named William Coley injected his patients with a vaccine consisting of killed bacteria hoping it would stimulate the body's defense system. During the 1990s, physicians treated people with cancer with a cytokine treatment. This treatment involved high amounts of interleuken-2 (IL-2) and interferon-γ (IFNγ), also known as inflammatory cytokines. These inflammatory cytokines were released by white blood cells that fight infection (T cells). However, this treatment can have very dangerous side effects such as vascular leakage and kidney damage, but some people that received the cytokine treatment have lived for decades. In the year of 1996,

* Biological Therapy: Works with your body’s immune system to help fight the cancer or control the side effects.

Therefore, dose and duration of treatment is limited, which in turn limits the amount of normal and tumor cell death. A second mechanism is the suppression of cancer cells for variable periods of time without cell death. This mechanism is referred to as remission. Unfortunately, the cancer can return at any time, and it is sometimes stronger. Here another limitation is introduced. Some tumor cells can develop resistance to a particular chemical agent, or several chemical agents, limiting the types of chemotherapeutic agents available for effective use. The last mechanism is cell differentiation, which helps the immune system learn to recognize and fight tumor cells (1).

As the world continues to suffer from these devastating diseases, researchers continue to find alternative therapeutic ways of addressing cancer treatment. It is on this premise that various immunotherapeutic alternatives have emerged and currently garnering the greatest level of attention and already raising hope throughout the world in addressing the treatment of NSCLC. However, this can no longer be viewed as a discovery but a wave in the medicine world that began in the 20th century. Various researchers have found the importance of the role of immune systems in fighting the growth of tumor caused by cancer cells. A study by Huncharek (2000) stated that specific immune boosters are capable of eliminating preclinical cancers. In contrast, Jermal et al. (2011) found that immunotherapy is an effective approach for the treatment of tumors that have already turned into solid. Similarly, the researchers highlighted that immunotherapy can be an effective approach to the treatment of melanoma as well as renal cell cancers (Lasalvia-Prisco, 2008). However, Jemal et al. (2011) noted that immunotherapy cannot achieve much in cancer treatment due to limitation brought about by the emission of immunosuppressive cytokines and subsequent loss of antigen expressions. Recent development in research studies on the immunotherapy approach to cancer treatment continues to elicit mixed reactions among researchers of medicinal ecology (Jadad et al., 1996). However, recent development in

Cancer cells respond to signals from other cells, and they communicate using hormones. Hormones can be small proteins or derived from steroids. To change a cell’s behavior, the target cell is sent a hormone from the signaling cell. Hormones can cause the cell to produce new proteins, or to stop producing the bad proteins. The target cells can start to grow and to reproduce.

Many American’s receive flu vaccines annually and now studies have proven, cancer vaccines are possible too. A question that comes up to researchers quite often is; “How do these vaccines work?” The answers to these questions researchers say is actually quite simple, they say cancer vaccines work just like flu vaccines and are used to prevent cancer. These; however, are a bit different than a flu vaccine because they do not attack cancer cells directly, instead teach your body to fight off the viruses that could end up being cancerous.

There are about three common immunotherapies, which are: hybrid, passive or active. Immunotherapy operates under the scientific facts that lays out that cancer cells contain molecules that are attached onto their surface which the immune system can detect. In active immunotherapy, tumor associated antigens (TAAs) are directed at the cancer cells and they begin attacking them. Passive immunotherapy works by enhancing anti-tumor responses by the use of monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, and lymphocytes. In some cases, immune cells are transferred from the body of the patient, cultured, and returned to the body to attack the cancer cells (Collins, 2009). This form of cellular therapy commonly uses and dendritic cells and cytotoxic T-cells.

By combining the power of antibodies with the cancer-destroying abilities of cytotoxic drugs, these therapies can generate better results than flooding the body with systemic chemo treatments that often generate unpleasant side effects that include killing healthy tissue.

Immunotherapy is a form of medical treatment intended to stimulate or restore the ability of the immune system to fight infection and disease. This can be by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing an immune response. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while those that reduce or suppress immune response are suppression immunotherapies. Active immunotherapy has been effective against agents that normally cause acute self-limiting infectious disease. However, a more effective immunotherapy for chronic infectious diseases or cancer requires the use of appropriate target antigens; the

Right now your immune system is at work. Think about it, millions of cells right now are at work inside you. It’s a complex system constantly on that keeps you healthy and at your fullest. This system is made of many organs, cell, tissues and other structures (that work very precisely with each other). Before you learn how the system works, you need to know how about what it defends against.

Our immune system is the second most complex system in our body. It is made up of organs, cells and proteins that work together to protect our bodies from harmful bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms that can cause diseases. Usually we don’t notice our immune system defending us against pathogens, but if the pathogen (harmful microorganism) is aggressive or if our body hasn’t ever come into contact with it, we can get sick. The jobs of our immune system are to recognise pathogens, as well as neutralise and remove them from our body. Our immune system also has to fight our own cells if they have changed due to an illness, for example, cancer. (1)