New immunotherapy for tumors

Immunotherapy has great hope in the treatment of cancer

05/02/2015

Around half a million people in Germany are confronted each year with the diagnosis of cancer. A new treatment approach now holds great hope for those affected: The so-called immunotherapy strengthens the body's defense and models the immune system so that it no longer tolerates tumor cells and even destroyed.

Revolution in tumor therapy
Around 500,000 Germans receive the diagnosis every year: cancer. The consequences are usually surgery, radiation and / or chemotherapy. But now, apparently, in the tumor therapy, a revolution is starting, like „rtl.de“ reported. Researchers are therefore relying on medicines that are supposed to strengthen one's own body as a weapon against cancer. The report is about Georgios Kessesidis, who, although he is a non-smoker, was diagnosed with end-stage lung cancer a year ago. At first, there was little hope, but today he is doing much better. According to the information, his own immune system is strengthened after an unsuccessful chemotherapy with an immunotherapy targeted.

Successes of immunotherapy
Such successes of immunotherapy against cancer have been more frequent in recent years. The 27-year-old Kessesidis receives in the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg as part of a scientific study drugs that help his immune system to recognize cancer cells and fight on their own. In contrast to chemotherapy, specifically only the tumor cells are attacked.

Drugs equip the body's immune system
The immune system is enabled by so-called antibodies to systematically destroy the cancer similar to bacteria and viruses. The drugs do not fight the tumor directly, like „rtl.de“ writes, but equip the body's defense, which is otherwise blocked by the cancer cells. Thus, such skin cancer immunotherapy has a positive effect on twenty to forty percent of patients. And initial studies to combat bladder cancer, kidney or lung cancer are promising.

Experts celebrate immunotherapy as a breakthrough in cancer treatment
Experts worldwide rate the success of immunotherapy as a breakthrough in the treatment of cancer. Thanks to the new therapeutic approach, cancer can be treated much more purposefully than is possible with chemotherapy and radiation. Like the online edition of „Doctors newspaper“ writes, immunotherapy was already in late 2013 by the prestigious US science magazine „Science "as „Breakthrough "of the year.

The American Society for Clinical Oncology is also euphoric about its success with the new therapeutic approach and even described immunotherapy as precision medicine in its latest annual report.

In Germany, twelve antibodies against cancer are now approved, which can be used in the context of immunotherapy.

Vaccination against tumors
Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg are working on improving the new therapy method. One strategy concerns vaccination against tumors with dendritic cells, „those with tumor-specific antigens „be loaded and presented to the immune system“, reports the online edition of the newspaper.

For example, vaccination studies in patients with glioma are currently being planned by the working group of Professor Michael Platten of the DKFZ and the University Hospital of Heidelberg. The patients should receive a combination of a vaccination with a mutated IDH1 peptide and chemo- or chemoradiotherapy, with which patients would have been treated without a new procedure. A total of 39 patients in the advanced stage of the disease should participate in the study. In mice, vaccination has already been successfully tested. The chances that the therapy is also effective in humans are good, writes the newspaper. (Ag)