It is a dream for scientists to get the immune system to recognize cancer cells as the enemy and destroy them. And now they are finding that clinical regimens known as immunotherapy can empower a patient’s system to fight the disease like cancer.

With the incredible advances in immunotherapy, oncologists no longer refuse the ‘cure’ word for cancer. It is good news for some patients with metastatic tumors that were almost universally fatal just 5 years ago. They are reinfused with their own T-cells that are genetically programmed, and thereby achieve certain therapeutic effects.

Immunotherapy applied into cancer area

 The concept of immunotherapy dates back to the 19th century. In the 1890s, William Coley tried using heat-killed bacteria to cure cancer. He noticed that some patients seemed to live longer if they developed an infection after their cancer surgery. Over the next 40 years, he injected more than 1,000 patients with bacteria known as Coley’s Toxins—reporting “excellent results” in bone and soft-tissue cancers.

 Scientists make great progress in cancer immunotherapy, especially adapted to cure infiltrated tumor. For all we know, the typical case is that an oncologist infuses lymphoma patients with their own T-cells, re-engineered to produce a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) or CAR T-cells, once triggered, can eliminate cancer. Unlike antibodies, CAR T-cells may continue to multiply, serving as a “living therapy” throughout a patient’s life.

Take the 2013 Bristol-Myers Squibb study led by Dr. Jedd Wolchok at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Doctors used a combination of 2 drugs(one approved, the other experimental)in 52 melanoma patients, and found that treatment with both immunotherapy drugs resulted in rapid and deep tumor regressions about 1/3 of the time.

We have reason to believe that Immunotherapy is exciting in terms of its high effectiveness to fight cancer. However it do come with side effects and immune system can be turn on too high. For example, a company temporarily halted its therapeutic cell trials in clinical stage after 2 patients die. But for the most part, adverse reactions reflect autoimmune diseases, where immune cells become hyper-activated and react to normal tissues.

References:

1. Invariant NKT cells with chimeric antigen receptor provide a novel platform for safe and effective cancer immunotherapy. Blood. 2014 Jul 21.

2. Modulation of immune responses by immunotherapy in allergic diseases. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2014 Jul 22;17C:30-37.