From WikiMD
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page contains changes which are not marked for translation.

OPS-301 code8-03




Agent Example
Interleukins IL-2, IL-7, IL-12
Cytokines Interferons, G-CSF, Imiquimod
Chemokines CCL3, CCL26, CXCL7
Other cytosine phosphate-guanosine, oligodeoxynucleotides, glucans


Activation immunotherapies


Cancer immunotherapy attempts to stimulate the immune system to reject and destroy tumors. Dr William Coley used Coley's Toxins in the late 1800s as crude immunotherapy with some success.[3] Immuno cell therapy for cancer was first introduced by Rosenberg and his colleagues of National Institute of Health USA. In the late 80s, they published an article in which they reported a low tumor regression rate (2.6–3.3%) in 1205 patients with metastatic cancer who underwent different types of active specific immunotherapy (ASI), and suggested that immuno cell therapy along with specific chemotherapy is the future of cancer immunotherapy.[4] Initially Immunotherapy treatments involved administration of cytokines such as Interleukin.[5] Thereafter the adverse effects of such intravenously administered cytokines[6] lead to the extraction of the lymphocytes from the blood and expanding in vitro against tumour antigen before injecting the cells[7] with appropriate stimulatory cytokines. The cells will then specifically target and destroy the tumor expressing antigen against which they have been raised.[citation needed]

The concept of this treatment started in the US in 80s and fully fledged clinical treatments on a routine basis have been in practice in Japan since 1990. Randomized controlled studies in different cancers resulting in significant increase in survival and disease free period have been reported[8][9][10][11] and its efficacy is enhanced by 20–30% when cell-based immunotherapy is combined with other conventional treatment methods.[citation needed]

BCG immunotherapy[12] for early stage (non-invasive) bladder cancer utilizes instillation of attenuated live bacteria into the bladder, and is effective in preventing recurrence in up to two thirds of cases. Topical immunotherapy utilizes an immune enhancement cream (imiquimod) which is an interferon producer causing the patients own killer T cells to destroy warts,[13] actinic keratoses, basal cell cancer, vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia,[14] squamous cell cancer,[12][15] cutaneous lymphoma,[16] and superficial malignant melanoma.[17] Injection immunotherapy uses mumps, candida the HPV vaccine[18][19] or trichophytin antigen injections to treat warts (HPV induced tumors). Lung cancer has been demonstrated to potentially respond to immunotherapy[20]

Dendritic cell-based immunotherapy


T-cell adoptive transfer


Thus far, a 51% objective response rate has been observed; and in some patients, tumors shrank to undetectable size.[24][25]

The initial studies of adoptive cell transfer using TIL, however, revealed that persistence of the transferred cells in vivo was too short.[26] Before reinfusion, lymphodepletion of the recipient is required to eliminate regulatory T cells as well as normal endogenous lymphocytes that compete with the transferred cells for homeostatic cytokines.[23][27][28][29] Lymphodepletion was made by total body irradiation prior to transfer of the expanded TIL.[30] The trend for increasing survival as a function of increasing lymphodepletion was highly significant (P=0.007).[30] Transferred cells expanded in vivo and persisted in the peripheral blood in many patients, sometimes achieving levels of 75% of all CD8+ T cells at 6–12 months after infusion.[31] Clinical trials based on adoptive cell transfer of TILs for patients with metastatic melanoma are currently ongoing at the National Cancer Institute (Bethesda,MD,USA), Moffitt Cancer Center (Tampa,FL,USA),[32] MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston,TX,USA), Sheba Medical Center (Tel Hashomer,Israel), Herlev University Hospital (Herlev,Denmark) and NKI Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (Amsterdam, Netherlands).

Autologous Immune Enhancement Therapy

The Autologous immune enhancement therapy (AIET) is an autologous immune cell based therapy wherein the patient's own peripheral blood-derived NK cells Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes and other relevant immune cells are expanded in vitro and then reinfused to tackle cancer.[33] There are also studies proving their efficacy against Hepatitis C Viral infection,[34][35][36] Chronic fatigue Syndrome[37][38] and HHV6 infection.[39]

Genetically engineered T cells


In one case study, United States doctors from the Clinical Research Division, led by Dr. Cassian Yee at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle had successfully treated a patient with advanced skin cancer by injecting the patient with immune cells cloned from his own immune system.[41] The patient was free from tumours within eight weeks of treatment. Dr. Cassian Yee described the research findings at The Cancer Research Institute International 2008 Symposia Series.[42] Responses, however, were not seen in other patients in this clinical trial. Larger trials are now under way.[43]

Immune recovery




Suppression immunotherapies


Immunosuppressive drugs


Immune tolerance




A one-to-five-year individually tailored regimen of injections may result in long-term benefits. Recent research suggests that patients who complete immunotherapy may continue to see benefits for years to come.[45] Immunotherapy does not work for everyone and is only partly effective in some people, but it offers allergy sufferers the chance to eventually reduce or stop symptomatic/rescue medication.



Other approaches

Helminthic therapies

Recent research into the clinical effectiveness of Whipworm ova (Trichuris suis) and Hookworm (Necator americanus) for the treatment of certain immunological diseases and allergies means that these organisms must be classified as immuno-therapeutic agents. Helminthic therapy is being investigated as a potentially highly effective treatment for the symptoms and or disease process in disorders such as relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis[46] Crohn’s,[47][48][49] allergies and asthma.[50] The precise mechanism of how the helminths modulate the immune response, ensuring their survival in the host and incidentally effectively modulating autoimmune disease processes, is currently unknown. However, several broad mechanisms have been postulated, such as a re-polarisation of the Th1 / Th2 response,[51] and modulation of dendritic cell function[52][53] The helminths down regulate the pro-inflammatory Th1 cytokines, Interleukin-12 (IL-12), Interferon-Gamma (IFN-γ) and Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-ά), while promoting the production of regulatory Th2 cytokines such as IL-10, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13.[51][54]


See also


  1. "immunotherapies definition". Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  2. Masihi KN (July 2001). "Fighting infection using immunomodulatory agents". Expert Opin Biol Ther. 1 (4): 641–53. doi:10.1517/14712598.1.4.641. PMID 11727500.
  3. Pobojewski S (Spring 2003). "Harnessing the Power of the Human Immune System". Medicine at Michigan. University of Michigan.
  4. Rosenberg SA (January 1984). "Adoptive immunotherapy of cancer: accomplishments and prospects". Cancer Treat Rep. 68 (1): 233–55. PMID 6362866.
  5. Yang Q, Hokland ME, Bryant JL, Zhang Y, Nannmark U, Watkins SC, Goldfarb RH, Herberman RB, Basse PH (July 2003). "Tumor-localization by adoptively transferred, interleukin-2-activated NK cells leads to destruction of well-established lung metastases". Int. J. Cancer. 105 (4): 512–9. doi:10.1002/ijc.11119. PMID 12712443.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. Takayama T, Sekine T, Makuuchi M, Yamasaki S, Kosuge T, Yamamoto J, Shimada K, Sakamoto M, Hirohashi S, Ohashi Y, Kakizoe T (September 2000). "Adoptive immunotherapy to lower postsurgical recurrence rates of hepatocellular carcinoma: a randomised trial". Lancet. 356 (9232): 802–7. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(00)02654-4. PMID 11022927.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. Buck HW, Guth KJ (October 2003). "Treatment of vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (primarily low grade) with imiquimod 5% cream". J Low Genit Tract Dis. 7 (4): 290–3. doi:10.1097/00128360-200310000-00011. PMID 17051086.
  15. Davidson HC, Leibowitz MS, Lopez-Albaitero A, Ferris RL (September 2009). "Immunotherapy for head and neck cancer". Oral Oncol. 45 (9): 747–51. doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2009.02.009. PMID 19442565.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. Di Lorenzo G, Buonerba C, Kantoff PW (September 2011). "Immunotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer". Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology. 8 (9): 551–61. doi:10.1038/nrclinonc.2011.72. PMID 21606971.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 Rosenberg SA, Restifo NP, Yang JC, Morgan RA, Dudley ME (April 2008). "Adoptive cell transfer: a clinical path to effective cancer immunotherapy". Nature Reviews Cancer. 8 (4): 299–308. doi:10.1038/nrc2355. PMC 2553205. PMID 18354418.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. Motohashi S, Nakayama T (2009). "Natural killer T cell-mediated immunotherapy for malignant diseases". Front Biosci (Schol Ed). 1: 108–16. doi:10.2741/S10. PMID 19482686.
  25. Khattar M, Chen W, Stepkowski SM (2009). "Expanding and converting regulatory T cells: a horizon for immunotherapy". Arch. Immunol. Ther. Exp. (Warsz.). 57 (3): 199–204. doi:10.1007/s00005-009-0021-1. PMID 19479206.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. Antony PA, Piccirillo CA, Akpinarli A, Finkelstein SE, Speiss PJ, Surman DR, Palmer DC, Chan CC, Klebanoff CA, Overwijk WW, Rosenberg SA, Restifo NP (March 2005). "CD8+ T cell immunity against a tumor/self-antigen is augmented by CD4+ T helper cells and hindered by naturally occurring T regulatory cells". Journal of Immunology. 174 (5): 2591–601. PMC 1403291. PMID 15728465.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. Dudley ME, Wunderlich JR, Robbins PF, Yang JC, Hwu P, Schwartzentruber DJ, Topalian SL, Sherry R, Restifo NP, Hubicki AM, Robinson MR, Raffeld M, Duray P, Seipp CA, Rogers-Freezer L, Morton KE, Mavroukakis SA, White DE, Rosenberg SA (October 2002). "Cancer regression and autoimmunity in patients after clonal repopulation with antitumor lymphocytes". Science. 298 (5594): 850–4. doi:10.1126/science.1076514. PMC 1764179. PMID 12242449.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. Manjunath SR, Ramanan G, Dedeepiya VD, Terunuma H, Deng X, Baskar S, Senthilkumar R, Thamaraikannan P, Srinivasan T, Preethy S, Abraham SJ (January 2012). "Autologous immune enhancement therapy in recurrent ovarian cancer with metastases: a case report". Case Rep Oncol. 5 (1): 114–8. doi:10.1159/000337319. PMC 3364094. PMID 22666198.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. Li Y, Zhang T, Ho C, Orange JS, Douglas SD, Ho WZ (December 2004). "Natural killer cells inhibit hepatitis C virus expression". J. Leukoc. Biol. 76 (6): 1171–9. doi:10.1189/jlb.0604372. PMID 15339939.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  38. Ojo-Amaize EA, Conley EJ, Peter JB (January 1994). "Decreased natural killer cell activity is associated with severity of chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome". Clin. Infect. Dis. 18 Suppl 1: S157–9. doi:10.1093/clinids/18.Supplement_1.S157. PMID 8148445.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  39. Kida K, Isozumi R, Ito M (December 2000). "Killing of human Herpes virus 6-infected cells by lymphocytes cultured with interleukin-2 or -12". Pediatr Int. 42 (6): 631–6. doi:10.1046/j.1442-200x.2000.01315.x. PMID 11192519.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  40. Morgan RA, Dudley ME, Wunderlich JR, Hughes MS, Yang JC, Sherry RM, Royal RE, Topalian SL, Kammula US, Restifo NP, Zheng Z, Nahvi A, de Vries CR, Rogers-Freezer LJ, Mavroukakis SA, Rosenberg SA (October 2006). "Cancer regression in patients after transfer of genetically engineered lymphocytes". Science. 314 (5796): 126–9. doi:10.1126/science.1129003. PMC 2267026. PMID 16946036.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  42. "2008 Symposium Program & Speakers". Cancer Research Institute.
    1. REDIRECT Template:Full citation needed
  44. Rotrosen D, Matthews JB, Bluestone JA (July 2002). "The immune tolerance network: a new paradigm for developing tolerance-inducing therapies". The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 110 (1): 17–23. doi:10.1067/mai.2002.124258. PMID 12110811.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  46. Correale J, Farez M (February 2007). "Association between parasite infection and immune responses in multiple sclerosis". Annals of Neurology. 61 (2): 97–108. doi:10.1002/ana.21067. PMID 17230481.
  47. Croese J, O'neil J, Masson J, Cooke S, Melrose W, Pritchard D, Speare R (January 2006). "A proof of concept study establishing Necator americanus in Crohn's patients and reservoir donors". Gut. 55 (1): 136–7. doi:10.1136/gut.2005.079129. PMC 1856386. PMID 16344586.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  49. Laclotte C, Oussalah A, Rey P, Bensenane M, Pluvinage N, Chevaux JB, Trouilloud I, Serre AA, Boucekkine T, Bigard MA, Peyrin-Biroulet L (December 2008). "[Helminths and inflammatory bowel diseases]". Gastroenterol. Clin. Biol. (in French). 32 (12): 1064–74. doi:10.1016/j.gcb.2008.04.030. PMID 18619749.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  50. Zaccone P, Fehervari Z, Phillips JM, Dunne DW, Cooke A (October 2006). "Parasitic worms and inflammatory diseases". Parasite Immunol. 28 (10): 515–23. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3024.2006.00879.x. PMC 1618732. PMID 16965287.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  51. 51.0 51.1 Brooker S, Bethony J, Hotez PJ (2004). "Advances in Parasitology Volume 58". Advances in parasitology. Advances in Parasitology. 58: 197–288. doi:10.1016/S0065-308X(04)58004-1. ISBN 9780120317585. PMC 2268732. PMID 15603764. |chapter= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  52. Fujiwara RT, Cançado GG, Freitas PA, Santiago HC, Massara CL, Dos Santos Carvalho O, Corrêa-Oliveira R, Geiger SM, Bethony J (2009). Yazdanbakhsh, Maria (ed.). "Necator americanus infection: a possible cause of altered dendritic cell differentiation and eosinophil profile in chronically infected individuals". PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 3 (3): e399. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000399. PMC 2654967. PMID 19308259.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  53. Carvalho L, Sun J, Kane C, Marshall F, Krawczyk C, Pearce EJ (January 2009). "Review series on helminths, immune modulation and the hygiene hypothesis: mechanisms underlying helminth modulation of dendritic cell function". Immunology. 126 (1): 28–34. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2567.2008.03008.x. PMC 2632707. PMID 19120496.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Portions of content adapted from Wikipedias article on Immunotherapy licensed under GNU FDL.

External links

W8MD logo250px


W8MD weight loss logo


Link to this page: <a href="">Immunotherapy</a>

  • Individual results may vary for weight loss from our sponsors.