Jedd Wolchok Cancer's Off Switch Analysis

A key factor in the development of tumors is the ability of cancerous cells to evade recognition from the bodies’ natural defense against cancer, the immune system. Immunotherapies effectively block the pathways that shield cancerous cells from being identified, and thus the promote the bodies own anti-tumor response. However, one challenge to immunotherapy has been its combination with chemotherapy, the mainstay of cancer treatment. While chemotherapy is extremely effective in stopping the rapid division of cancerous cells, its toxic immunosuppressive side-effect make it difficult to combine with

The defining goal is to eliminate all evidence of the cancer cells with the use of cytotoxic agents. Chemotherapeutic agents are chosen because of their ability to interfere with oncologic cell division. The treatment of ALL involves 3 phases: remission induction, consolidation, and maintenance therapy. Pediatric patients with ALL are often given 8 or more months of intensive chemotherapy. This is often followed by maintenance therapy of two or more years (Gedaly-Duff et al., 2006). Most treatment protocols use systemic chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy (McCance & Huether, 2010).  According to a study conducted by McDonald & Mc Carthy (2005), success of chemotherapy and remission depends on “aggressive induction chemotherapy followed by delayed intensification and maintenance therapy, p. 809.”

It has targeted cells that work to kill and defend any pathogen or impurity that enters one’s body. In the case of cancers, a person’s cells grow abnormally forming a tumor. Unlike normal cells, cancer cells lose the ability to undergo apoptosis, cell death. Thus, one’s body harvests a tumor that most likely has a chance to spread and become deadly. Luckily, the biotech industry concocted innovative research that called for a new method of cancer treatment. Immunotherapy is designed to program one’s immune system to destroy and fight off the cancer. Originally, it has been mainly used for allergies. Dosages of medication or vaccinations are given to a patient to ensure that the immune system will not overreact to certain types of foreign substances. The therapy requires a drug that delivers an anticancer immune cell, specifically designed to attach on to the specific antigen that the tumor contains. According to scientist, immunotherapy gives patients “long term protection with reduced side effects against the cancer” (McGinley). The purpose of this treatment is to strengthen the immune system and specifically targets cancerous cells. Due to scientific research and the use of biotechnological methods, immunotherapy is able to prevent the threat of killing cells necessary to one’s body. Providing patients with a treatment that does not take a toll on their bodies, nor threaten to kill healthy cells is one relief the person

3.) The mayo clinic article on monoclonal antibody drugs for cancer seems to be a conveniently recent development and an answer to my query in the previous paragraph. Basically they are laboratory-produced molecules that are engineered to attach themselves to cancer-affected areas of the body, and make them more visible to the body’s immune system. They also block growth signals in the cancer cells, preventing them from developing new ways to improve blood flow to them. They even have the ability to deliver radioactive and chemotherapy directly to cancer cells without having to deal with daylong chemo sessions or high-dose beam radiation. This relates to Gladwells’ approach because researchers definitely thought outside the box to come up with it. A lot of todays’ medicine treats the symptoms and or gets the body to do most of the work. With cancer, doctors usually try to get the medicine to do the work. By unveiling the

Prof. Jonathan Bramson holds a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Experimental Medicine from McGill University. He has published 96 research manuscripts, 11 review articles, and 2 book chapters. He has also submitted 3 patent applications in the area of immunotherapy. His research is focused on the mechanisms by which the adaptive immune system recognizes and responds to tumours and a specific interest is the development of immunological strategies to fight cancer. He is currently a tenured professor at the department of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University, since 2009 director of the McMaster Immunology Research Centre (MIRC) and holder of the John Bienenstock Chair in Molecular Medicine as well as the Tier I Canada Research

Cancer immunotheraphy is a concept that has been around for centuries. Back in the 1800s, a bone surgeon named William Coley injected his patients with a vaccine consisting of killed bacteria hoping it would stimulate the body's defense system. During the 1990s, physicians treated people with cancer with a cytokine treatment. This treatment involved high amounts of interleuken-2 (IL-2) and interferon-γ (IFNγ), also known as inflammatory cytokines. These inflammatory cytokines were released by white blood cells that fight infection (T cells). However, this treatment can have very dangerous side effects such as vascular leakage and kidney damage, but some people that received the cytokine treatment have lived for decades. In the year of 1996,

Macromolecules BCM 261 10/13/2014 Caroline Venter 13019865 Introduction Background Many of the molecules that are crucial in living organisms and systems are very large and are usually made up of macromolecules. Macromolecules are organic molecules with a large molecular mass and consist of repeating units called monomers. These repeating monomers are formed via condensation or dehydration reactions (loss of water or other small molecules in order to join two molecules) and usually each have a small molecular mass which contributes to the overall large molecular mass of macromolecules (Jenkins, Kratochvíl, Stepto, & Suter, 2009).

The normal cancer-fighting response from the immune system activates white blood cells, also called T cells, which target cancer cells in the area. The cancer-fighting cells also

Given that immunology mediate the relationship between optimism and cancer survival rate, it is possible that the inconsistent results of the previous studies might be accounted by mechanisms related to immunology.

Therefore, dose and duration of treatment is limited, which in turn limits the amount of normal and tumor cell death. A second mechanism is the suppression of cancer cells for variable periods of time without cell death. This mechanism is referred to as remission. Unfortunately, the cancer can return at any time, and it is sometimes stronger. Here another limitation is introduced. Some tumor cells can develop resistance to a particular chemical agent, or several chemical agents, limiting the types of chemotherapeutic agents available for effective use. The last mechanism is cell differentiation, which helps the immune system learn to recognize and fight tumor cells (1).

As the world continues to suffer from these devastating diseases, researchers continue to find alternative therapeutic ways of addressing cancer treatment. It is on this premise that various immunotherapeutic alternatives have emerged and currently garnering the greatest level of attention and already raising hope throughout the world in addressing the treatment of NSCLC. However, this can no longer be viewed as a discovery but a wave in the medicine world that began in the 20th century. Various researchers have found the importance of the role of immune systems in fighting the growth of tumor caused by cancer cells. A study by Huncharek (2000) stated that specific immune boosters are capable of eliminating preclinical cancers. In contrast, Jermal et al. (2011) found that immunotherapy is an effective approach for the treatment of tumors that have already turned into solid. Similarly, the researchers highlighted that immunotherapy can be an effective approach to the treatment of melanoma as well as renal cell cancers (Lasalvia-Prisco, 2008). However, Jemal et al. (2011) noted that immunotherapy cannot achieve much in cancer treatment due to limitation brought about by the emission of immunosuppressive cytokines and subsequent loss of antigen expressions. Recent development in research studies on the immunotherapy approach to cancer treatment continues to elicit mixed reactions among researchers of medicinal ecology (Jadad et al., 1996). However, recent development in

Immunotherapy is a form of medical treatment intended to stimulate or restore the ability of the immune system to fight infection and disease. This can be by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing an immune response. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while those that reduce or suppress immune response are suppression immunotherapies. Active immunotherapy has been effective against agents that normally cause acute self-limiting infectious disease. However, a more effective immunotherapy for chronic infectious diseases or cancer requires the use of appropriate target antigens; the

Common malignant brain cancers increase significantly according to statistical data collected by the National Cancer Institute. In 1984, the annual incidence rates of primary brain tumor and primary brain lymphoma also increased notably, the rate of lymphoma almost tripling,

Right now your immune system is at work. Think about it, millions of cells right now are at work inside you. It’s a complex system constantly on that keeps you healthy and at your fullest. This system is made of many organs, cell, tissues and other structures (that work very precisely with each other). Before you learn how the system works, you need to know how about what it defends against.

Our immune system is the second most complex system in our body. It is made up of organs, cells and proteins that work together to protect our bodies from harmful bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms that can cause diseases. Usually we don’t notice our immune system defending us against pathogens, but if the pathogen (harmful microorganism) is aggressive or if our body hasn’t ever come into contact with it, we can get sick. The jobs of our immune system are to recognise pathogens, as well as neutralise and remove them from our body. Our immune system also has to fight our own cells if they have changed due to an illness, for example, cancer. (1)