Immunotherapy for cancer treatment: How cancer patients stand to benefit?
A Cell therapy treatment.
Cancer: The Master Of Disguise
Cancer refers to altered self cells that continue to grow and divide uncontrollably. Moreover, they acquire the ability to disguise themselves and escape the surveillance of the immune system. This ability of conning or stopping immune cell responses results in allowing the cancer cells to develop, grow, metastasize, and eventually kill patients.
As per National Cancer Registry Program, nearly 1.4 million people were diagnosed with cancer in the year 2020 in India. Data suggests that > 70 % of the cancers detected were in progressed/advanced stages of the disease.Surgery, Chemotherapy and Radiation sum up the conventional treatment options but may offer limited respite especially when cancer cells have metastasized to newer locations within the body. It is then when the fight against the Big C involves finding novel treatment options with the potential to outdo the smartness of cancer.
Cell based immunotherapy treatment
Despite the availability of multiple modalities of cancer treatment, the lack of therapeutic benefit against several evolving & inoperable solid malignancies has led to search for new therapeutic options. In India, Cell based cancer treatments is the new kid on the block. It is said to be the fourth modality for the treatment of cancer as it is highly-advanced and a progressive form which enhances a body’s immune system to fight against cancer. This type of cancer treatment works either by stimulating one’s immune system to work smartly in attacking cancer cells or providing the immune system components, such as man-made immune system proteins to kill cancer cells. Immunotherapies are a smart way to mark cancer cells for our immune system to be able to find those cells and destroy them completely. Since long, cancer cells have been exploiting their ability to hide from our immune system, but with the advent and trials of immunotherapy, has made it possible to fight cancer naturally.
Immunotherapy encompasses a wide variety of different molecules and cells. Itis a form of biological therapy that is specifically designed and engineered in a way to stimulate patient’s own immune system to efficiently recognize and target key epitopes that are expressed only on cancer cells.
Dendritic cell (DC) based immunotherapy is now available that harness the significant potential of these immune cells to fight cancer. Dendritic Cells are master cells of the Immune system that are most potent Antigen Presenting Cells discovered by Prof. Ralph Steinman and named for their probing, ‘tree-like’ or dendritic shapes. They play major roles in recognition of ‘foreign’ or altered cells by patrolling the environment, capture foreign antigens by endocytosis, phagocytosis and pinocytosis and direct the immune system to mount an Immune response hence functioning as the ‘sentinels’ of the immune system.
A large number of trials using Dendritic Cell based Immunotherapy have been conducted in the past and many are still active. Sipuleucel-T, a DC based therapy has been approved by the US-FDA for treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Northwest Biotherapeutics have an active phase III clinical trial on 331 GBM patients using DC-based product.
In India, APCEDEN® dendritic cell therapy has proven to significantly improve quality of life coupled with overall survival benefit. It is safe and completely personalized for each patient and their cancer.
SOTIO, a Czech Republic based biotechnology company conducted a randomized Phase II trial among patients with recurrent ovarian cancer and showed an improved progression free survival of 13.4 months compared to the control group. Their Cell based product provided a promising maintenance treatment option to delay progression of epithelial ovarian carcinoma.
In current times with changing and evolving lifestyles, standard treatments alone are limiting the scope of fighting aggressive cancers. Personalized vaccines or cell based therapies are the holy grail of future medicine. They are majorly safe and hold no side effects as they employ the use of self-monocytes and tumor antigen. Also, the flexibility of administration and combination with other treatments ensures quick and efficient recovery with minimal chance of progression.
Dr. Bandana Sharan
Director-Research of APAC Biotech.
