Cancer immunotherapy

 Cancer immunotherapy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Cancer immunotherapy is the use of the immune system to treat cancer. There are three main groups of immunotherapy used to treat cancer: cell-based therapies, antibody therapies and cytokine therapies. They all exploit the fact that cancer cells often have subtly different molecules on their surface that can be detected by the immune system. These molecules, known as cancer antigens, are most commonly proteins but also include other molecules such as carbohydrates. Immunotherapy is used to provoke the immune system into attacking the tumor cells by using these cancer antigens as targets.

Cell-based therapies, also known as cancer vaccines, usually involve the removal of immune cells from someone with cancer, either from the blood or from a tumor. Immune cells specific for the tumor will be activated, grown and returned to the person with cancer where the immune cells provoke an immune response against the cancer. Cell types that can be used in this way are natural killer cells, lymphokine-activated killer cells, cytotoxic T cells and dendritic cells. The only cell-based therapy currently approved for use is Dendreon's Provenge, which is used for the treatment of prostate cancer.

However, Antibody therapies are currently the most successful form of immunotherapy, with many approved treatments for a wide range of cancers. Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system that bind to a target antigen on the surface of a cell. In normal physiology they are used by the immune system to fight pathogens. Each antibody is specific to one or a few proteins and those that bind to cancer antigens are used in the treatment of cancer. Cell surface receptors are common targets for antibody therapies and include the epidermal growth factor receptor and HER2. Once bound to a cancer antigen, antibodies can induce antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, activate the complement system, prevent a receptor interacting with its ligand or deliver a payload of chemotherapy or radiation; all of which can lead to cell death. There are twelve antibodies currently approved for the treatment of cancer: Alemtuzumab, Bevacizumab, Brentuximab vedotin, Cetuximab, Gemtuzumab ozogamicin, Ibritumomab tiuxetan, Ipilimumab, Ofatumumab, Panitumumab, Rituximab, Tositumomab and Trastuzumab.

Interleukin-2 and interferon-α are examples of cytokines; proteins that regulate and coordinate the behaviour of the immune system. They have the ability to enhance the anti-tumor activity of the immune system and thus can be used as treatments in cancer. Interferon-α is used in the treatment of hairy-cell leukaemia, AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma, follicular lymphoma, chronic myeloid leukaemia and malignant melanoma. Interleukin-2 is used in the treatment of malignant melanoma and renal cell carcinoma.




Cytokine therapy
Cytokines are a broad group of proteins produced by many types of cells present within a tumor. They have the ability to modulate immune responses and are often utilised by the tumor to allow it to grow and manipulate the immune response. These immune-modulating effects allow them to be used as drugs to provoke an immune response against the tumor. Two commonly used groups of cytokines are the interferons and interleukins.[70]
Interferon[edit]

Interferons are cytokines produced by the immune system usually involved in anti-viral response, but also have use in the treatment of cancer. There are three groups of interferons (IFNs): type I (IFNα and IFNβ), type 2 (IFNγ) and the relatively newly discovered type III (IFNλ). IFNα has been approved for use in hairy-cell leukaemia, AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma, follicular lymphoma, chronic myeloid leukaemia and melanoma. Type I and II IFNs have been researched extensively and although both types promote the anti-tumor effects of the immune system, only type I IFNs have been shown to be clinically effective in cancer treatment. IFNλ has been tested for its anti-tumor effects in animal models, and shows promise.[71][72]
Interleukins[edit]

Interleukins are a group of cytokines with a wide array of effects on the immune system. Interleukin-2 is used in the treatment of malignant melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. In normal physiology it promotes both effector T cells (cells that produce the immune response) and T-regulatory cells (cells that repress the immune response), but its exact mechanism in the treatment of cancer is unknown.[70][73]

NOW THE NATURAL ROUTE....

 Plants, fungi, bacteria and marine organisms are potential sources of anti-cancer drugs. Plants and bacteria have been the most successful sources of drugs, which include anthracycline, the taxanes and vinca alkaloids. These drugs intercalate DNA and are known as cytotoxic drugs. In addition to these kinds of drugs, natural products are also known to stimulate the immune system, which can be utilized in the treatment of cancer.[79]

Certain compounds in medicinal mushrooms, primarily polysaccharide compounds, can up-regulate the immune system and have anti-cancer properties. Beta-glucans, such aslentinan, are known as "biological response modifiers", and their ability to activate the immune system is well documented. Specifically, beta-glucans stimulate the innate branch of the immune system. Research has shown beta-glucans have the ability to stimulate macrophage, NK cells, T cells, and immune system cytokines. The mechanisms in which beta-glucans stimulate the immune system is only partially understood. One mechanism in which beta-glucans are able to activate the immune system, is by interacting with theMacrophage-1 antigen (CD18) receptor on immune cells.[80] Agaricus subrufescens, (often mistakenly called Agaricus blazei), Lentinula edodes (Shiitake mushrooom), Grifola frondosa and Hericium erinaceus are fungi known to produce beta-glucans and have been tested for their anti-cancer potential.[79] Polysaccharide-K, isolated from Trametes versicolor, is another polysaccharide that has anti-cancer properties.[81][82]

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved the use of Polysaccharide-K (produced by Coriolus versicolor) in the 1980s, to stimulate the immune systems of patients undergoing chemotherapy.[82] In Australia, a pharmaceutical based on a mixture of several mycological extracts including lentinan and Polysaccharide-K is sold commercially as MC-S.


Summary:
I use the above and below ideas (like immune system modulation) and find all readily available products that are not expensive on Lucy's Tippner Cancer Protocol that are found to have those properties.






 New and future immunotherapies
Anti-CD47 antibodies[edit]
Anti-CD47 antibodies, which block the protein CD47 from telling the cancer's host human immune system not to attack it, have been shown to eliminate or inhibit the growth of a wide range of cancers and tumors because CD47 is present on all known cancer cells (it is also present on many healthy cells of the body). After the cancer cells have been engulfed by macrophages, the host immune system's CD8+ T Cells become mobilized against the cancer and attack it on their own in addition to the macrophages, producing a personalized attack on virtually any form of cancer. When the immunotherapy technique was tested on human tumors transplanted in to mice, it stopped the spread of cancer 90 percent of the time and often eliminated all signs of the cancer. Phase 1 human trials are set to begin in 2014.[74][75][76]

Anti-GD2 antibodies


The GD2 ganglioside
Carbohydrate antigens on the surface of cells can be used as targets for immunotherapy. GD2 is a ganglioside found on the surface of many types of cancer cell including neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, melanoma, small cell lung cancer, brain tumors, osteosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, liposarcoma, fibrosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma and other soft tissue sarcomas. It is not usually expressed on the surface of normal tissues, making it a good target for immunotherapy to allow for specific action against the tumor and reduced toxicity. Phase I, II, and III trials are underway for antibody treatments that bind to this antigen.[77]

Immune checkpoint blockade
A ligand-receptor interaction that is currently being investigated as a target for cancer treatment is the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1; also known as CD279) and PD-1 ligand 1 (PD-L1). In normal physiology PD-L1 on the surface of a cell binds to PD1 on the surface of an immune cell, which inhibits the activity of the immune cell. It appears that upregulation of PD-L1 on the cancer cell surface may allow them to evade the host immune system by inhibiting T cells that might otherwise attack the tumor cell. Antibodies that bind to either PD-1 or PD-L1 and therefore block the interaction may allow the T-cells to attack the tumor.

EGF receptor antibodies
Other anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies in development include: ABX-EGF, hR3, and EMD 72000. Although they hold significant promise for the future, none of the agents are currently beyond phase I clinical trials.



Lucy never did radiation or chemo, she only did the Tippner Protocol. The Tippner Cancer Protocol combines immunotherapy and molecular cancer therapy using off the shelf readily available inexpensive natural substances. She is past 3 years after diagnosis by biopsy

I buy most of the stuff from Swanson Vitamins. They are cheaper, in capsules for dosage changes, and carry almost everything I give to Lucy except for the Chinese Herbs Stasis Breaker prescription, and the Low Dose Naltrexone prescription. Here is a $5 off coupon link I found