Game-changing Cancer Breakthrough Keytruda | New immunotherapy drug now FDA approved Grace Gawler

Because of the immune system’s extraordinary power, its capacity for memory, its exquisite specificity, and its central and universal role in human biology, these immunotherapy treatments have the potential to achieve complete, long-lasting remissions and cancer cures, with few or no side effects, and for any cancer patient, regardless of their cancer type. ( CRI )

The Immune System and Cancer Control: Exciting Developments in the USA and at QIMR Berghofer Brisbane Australia…..

Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is made by the drug company Merck. The drug belongs to a class of immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors. These drugs “take the brakes off” the immune response to cancer. They represent the most promising new cancer therapies to emerge in decades. Merck’s drug is the first FDA approved checkpoint inhibitor targeting a molecule called PD-1. Cancer-Immunotherapy-BreakthroughThe drug has been approved for the treatment of advanced or inoperable melanoma in patients who have failed prior treatment.

For 60 years, Cancer Research Institute (CRI) has been the pioneer in advancing this highly promising new class of treatment. Because of this investment, cancer immunotherapy today is a highly active and exciting field, with unprecedented potential to deliver on the decades-long promise of discovering, developing, and delivering safe and effective treatments that make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients fighting the disease. For those living in the USA – if you want more information about checkpoint inhibitors and immunotherapies.
To Join a webinar presented by Cancer Research Institute – Immunotherapy: The Future of Prostate Cancer is Here” with Dr Charles Drake MD PhD September 30, 2014 at 2 pm ( please remember – New York time!) CLICK HERE
Because of the immune system’s extraordinary power, its capacity for memory, its exquisite specificity, and its central and universal role in human biology, these immunotherapy treatments have the potential to achieve complete, long-lasting remissions and cancer cures, with few or no side effects, and for any cancer patient, regardless of their cancer type.( CRI)
 Please visit: www.cancerresearch.org for more more information about immunotherapy trials and treatments in USA.
Also visit:      http://www.theanswertocancer.org

In Queensland – Australia  – QIMR Berghofer Medical Institute Brisbane is dedicated to translating discoveries into treatments, diagnostics and prevention strategies.

LISTEN TO AUDIO QIMR berhofer QldListen to this interview with Sara-Jane who was a guest on Navigating the Cancer Maze Radio this week. Sara Jane is from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. She will speak about the Research Roadshow and other aspects of this research centre. Learn how you can get involved and benefit.

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To discover what is being researched  at QIMR  visit their website by CLICKING HERE: 

In Next blog:

More on the Research Roadshow at QIMR Berghofer and Record keeping – so important for any cancer patient. I look at some creative ways to keep your medical records in order.

Until next time

Grace

Navigating the Immune System | The Key to Future Cancer Therapies

Today on Voice America’s Navigating the Cancer Maze, I interview Professor Mark Smyth who is regarded as an international leader in tumour immunology, immunotherapy and natural killer (NK) cell biology. My co-host is Dr Bruce Whelan, GP.We are nk-cells-(green)-attack-diseased-human-cellsaware there is a great need for cancer education in the community. By understanding the intricacies of the immune system in parallel with the biological nature of cancer; we believe that patients will make better informed decisions regarding their choice of cancer treatment.

Prof Mark Smyth and Dr Bruce Whelan GP
Prof Mark Smyth and Dr Bruce Whelan GP

 

Today on Voice America’s Navigating the Cancer Maze, I interview Professor Mark Smyth who is regarded as an international leader in tumour immunology, immunotherapy and natural killer (NK) cell biology. My co-host is Dr Bruce Whelan, GP.

Episode Description

Today I interview Professor Mark Smyth who is regarded as an international leader in tumour immunology, immunotherapy and natural killer (NK) cell biology. My co-host is Dr Bruce Whelan, GP. Dr Whelan and I see cancer patients in our practices.

We are aware there is a great need for cancer education in the community. By understanding the intricacies of the immune system in parallel with the biological nature of cancer; we believe that patients will make better informed decisions regarding their choice of cancer treatmentProfessor Smyth is a person of influence who has made key discoveries in his field.

A number of those discoveries have led to new clinical trials in cancer immunotherapy. Professor Smyth relocated to the QIMR nk-cells-(green)-attack-diseased-human-cellsBerghofer in Brisbane (2013) as Senior Scientist and NH&MRC Australia Fellow.

He is a Senior Editor at Cancer Research, & a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Cancer Research Institute (USA).

Learn More:  www.qimrberghofer.edu.au

Professor Mark Smyth

Professor Mark Smyth  received his PhD from the University of Melbourne in 1988 & trained at the National Cancer Institute (USA) 1988-1992.

After 8 years at Austin Research Institute Melbourne, working on mechanisms of lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity, he relocated to Peter Macallum where his studies on effector molecules collectively rekindled world-wide interest in cancer immune surveillance. A number of his discoveries have led to new clinical trials in cancer immunotherapy.

Professor Smyth relocated to QIMR Berghofer, Brisbane (2013) as a Senior Scientist and NH&MRC Australia Fellow. He is a Senior Editor at Cancer Research, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Cancer Research Institute (USA).

Summary

The Immunology in Cancer and Infection Laboratory currently focuses upon advancing our understanding of the basic principles underlying an immune response to cancer and infection.

A Natural Killer cell (yellow) attacks a cancer cell. The NK cell reaches out and delivers the “kiss of death.”
A Natural Killer cell (yellow) attacks a cancer cell.
The NK cell reaches out and delivers the “kiss of death.”

 We aim to further understand these processes at the molecular level, with particular emphasis on the role of the innate immune system, in particular, NK cells, NKT cells and gamma-delta T cells.

Our laboratory is building a detailed picture of how networks of immune cells function to recognise, respond to, and destroy tumour cell masses and metastases. We are interested in defining the importance, timing, and nature of the natural immune response to transformation.

We are also using new antigens (including glycolipids), antibodies, and cytokines in combination to stimulate strong innate and lasting adaptive immunity to cancer.

Our findings are being used to develop more effective biological and cellular therapies for human cancer, in particular, melanoma, breast and prostate cancer, and haematological cancers.

Learn more about Prof Smyth’s research

at http://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/page/Lab/Immunology_Cancer_Infection

 

One of QIMR Berghofer’s three Research Programs is cancer, one of the major causes of illness and death in Australia and the developed world.   In 2012, it is estimated that more than 120,700 Australians were diagnosed with cancer (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer). Cancer accounted for about 3 in 10 deaths in Australia, making it the second most common cause of death, exceeded only by cardiovascular diseases. Cancer is a disease which is caused by abnormal cell growth and eventually spreads to other parts of the body. Some cancers are common within a family history and are clearly inherited, while others are caused by factors in the environment interacting with genetic susceptibilities. Many forms of cancer can be treated successfully if detected early.

Cancer types researched by QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

  • Blood cancers (including leukaemia, lymphoma and myelomas)
  • Brain cancer (glioblastoma)
  • Breast cancer
  • Colorectal (bowel) cancer
  • Endometrial cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Melanoma
  • Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (endocrine cancer)
  • Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (nose and throat cancer)
  • Non-melanoma skin cancer (actinic solar keratosis, squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma)
  • Oesophageal cancer (including Barrett’s oesophagus)
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Stomach (gastric) cancer

Learn More:  www.qimrberghofer.edu.au Navigating the Cancer Maze is presented by the Grace Gawler Institute for Integrated Cancer Solutions, Gold Coast Australia. We are a not for profit health promotion charity.

Why Immunotherapy Month has been a Symbol of Hope for Cancer Patients | Grace Gawler

This week on Navigating the Cancer Maze I re-presented an interview with Dr Horst Lindhofer PhD, Munich, Germany who was the creator of Tri-Functional antibodies. In the last segment – I provide an overview and more resources plus coming events for those who live in or near Brisbane.

This week on Navigating the Cancer Maze I re-presented an interview with Dr Horst Lindhofer PhD, Munich, Germany who was the creator of Tri-Functional immune systemantibodies. In the last segment – I provide an overview and more resources plus coming events for those who live in or near Brisbane. For more information visit:

 http://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au       Interview links:

  www.trionresearch.de           OR    www.neoviibiotech.com/contact.html

Immunotherapy is not new. It is interesting to take a look at the  History of Immunotherapy and it’s  pioneers.

In the 1850s, doctors in Germany noticed that patients’ tumours would occasionally shrink if their tumour became infected. This observation led to the idea that the body’s immune system could be harnessed and made to fight cancer.

Around the same time, doctors throughout Europe, encouraged by the success of Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine, attempted to make a ‘cancer vaccine’ by injecting patients with crude extracts of tumours from other cancer patients. These treatments were largely ineffective, but the field of ‘immunotherapy’ was born.

Initial progress on immunotherapy was slow, and over a hundred years’ work in the laboratory yielded little success in actual cancer treatment. This all changed when in 1975, Georges Köhler and César Milstein, working in Cambridge, discovered how to make synthetic antibodies.

Their discovery, coupled with an ever-increasing understanding of the immune system, has led to a variety of treatments and strategies that use the immune system to tackle cancer. Some, such as the antibody-based breast cancer drug Herceptin, are now used routinely to treat cancer patients.

Professor Jérôme Galon, Ph.D. whom I recently interviewed on Navigating the Cancer Maze received the William B. Coley Award in 2010. The award was established in 1975 in honor of Dr. William B. Coley, a pioneer of cancer immunotherapy, whose daughter, Helen Coley Nauts, founded Cancer Research Institute. To understand  Immunotherapy – please take 7 minutes to view this excellent video:

Immunotherapy: Boosting the immune system to fight cancer

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NNjDjXSJt0]

William B. Coley, in 1891, injected streptococcal organisms into a patient with inoperable cancer. He thought that the infection he produced would have the side effect of shrinking the malignant tumor. He was successful, and this was one of the first examples of immunotherapy. Over the next forty years, as head of the Bone Tumor Service at Memorial Hospital in New York, Coley injected more than 1000 cancer patients with bacteria or bacterial products. These products became known as Coley’s Toxins. He and other doctors who used them reported excellent results, especially in bone and soft-tissue sarcomas.

Despite his reported good results, Coley’s Toxins came under a great deal of criticism because many doctors did not believe his results. This criticism, along with the development of radiation therapy and chemotherapy, caused Coley’s Toxins to gradually disappear from use. However, the modern science of immunology has shown that Coley’s principles were correct and that some cancers are sensitive to an enhanced immune system. Because research is very active in this field, William B. Coley, a bone sarcoma surgeon, deserves the title “Father of Immunotherapy.”

Further acceptance of his ideas was brought about by Coley’s own children. His son Bradley (1892-1961), also an orthopaedic surgeon, succeeded him as the head of the Bone Tumor Service at Memorial Hospital. Bradley Coley’s major textbook on bone tumors was published in 1948, and while advocating surgery as the main treatment for bone sarcomas, he supported the use of Coley’s toxin as adjunctive therapy. He believed that it would be of value in preventing micro-metastasis. His daughter, Helen Coley Nauts (1907-2001), became a cancer researcher and devoted her life to the study of her father’s toxins. She tabulated every patient he treated and reviewed all his notes. She published 18 monographs and tabulated over 1000 of his cases and noticed that in 500 of these there was near-complete regression. She founded Cancer Research Institute in New York. 

Read stories of patients successes immunotherapy trials from Cancer Research Institute at: Select from the menu ‘Who is the Immunocommunity’ and select the drop down menu ‘Patients Stories’

http://www.theanswertocancer.org/

Immunotherapy can be local or systemic.

Local immunotherapy delivers the treatment to the affected area. For example, the BCG vaccine can be injected into the bladder to treat bladder cancer, as it causes inflammation that can cause the tumour to shrink.

Systemic therapy treats the whole body and is useful for targeting cancer that may have spread. In the 1980s, scientists at the Cancer Research UK Medical Oncology Unit at the Christie Hospital in Manchester showed that the protein interferon alpha could cause tumours to shrink in patients with low-grade lymphoma. Interferon is now used to treat several different types of cancer.

Immunotherapy can also be non-specific or targeted.

Non-specific immunotherapy works by boosting the body’s immune system in general, so that its natural cancer-killing activity is enhanced. Both of the examples of local and systemic therapies (above) are also examples of non-specific immunotherapy.

Targeted immunotherapy is designed to make the immune system specifically kill cancer cells. The following types of targeted immunotherapy are available or are in development:

Antibody-based therapies

Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system. A type of white blood cell called a B-cell produces them in response to an infection. Normally, antibodies stick to foreign objects in the body and label them for destruction. Researchers have been trying to make antibodies that will attach themselves only to cancer cells. This can be useful in four ways.

  • It can stop the cancer from growing by stopping other essential ‘growth factors’ from sticking to it.
  • It can ‘tag’ the cancer for destruction by the immune system.
  • If cancer drugs or radioactive particles are attached to the antibody, it can deliver them directly to the cancer cell without harming the rest of your body.
  • An enzyme (a type of protein that can promote chemical reactions) can be attached to an antibody, and then given to a patient along with a chemical that can be turned into a powerful drug by the enzyme. This directs the drug to the cancer, and minimise side effects. This process is known as Antibody-directed Enzyme/Pro-drug Therapy (ADEPT).

Sources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1888599/

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/

http://www.cancerresearch.org

http://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT IMMUNO-THERAPY already available in Germany for Clinical use – please contact me via the contact form on this blog or email to my new email address for enquiries: germancancertreatments@gmail.com

 

How our immune System Fights Cancer|Knowledge to Help you Navigate the Cancer Maze Grace Gawler & Prof Jerome Galon

Do want to get some insights into the intricate working of your immune system? Navigating the Cancer Maze, Grace Gawler interviews Prof. Dr. Jerome Galon: Research Director at INSERM (National Institute of Health and Medical Research) & leader of the INSERM Integrative Cancer Immunology laboratory, at the Cordeliers Research Centre, Paris, France.

Do want to get some insights into the intricate working of your immune system and cancer? On Navigating the Cancer Maze, internet radio Grace Gawler interviews Prof. Dr. Jerome Galon: Research Director at INSERM (National Institute of Health and Medical Research) & leader of the INSERM Integrative Cancer Immunology laboratory, at the Cordeliers Research Centre, Paris, France.

PROF DR. JEROME GALON
PROF DR. JEROME GALON

Listen to the show by selecting the following link:

http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/78656/how-our-immune-system-fights-cancer-knowledge-to-help-you-navigate-the-cancer-maze

 

Professor Galon’s current interests & major contributions concern basic & translational research in cancer immunology, using systems biology.

His laboratory has made some ground-breaking findings demonstrating that the adaptive immune response within a tumor was a better predictor of survival than traditional staging based on the size and spread of a tumor.The new wave of immunotherapies reflects what has been known for some time; that the answer to cancer is in you! But it is not that simple. Our immune system is complex and intricate & as science unravels its mysteries, we are developing new understandings of how the immune system can be captured & recruited in the laboratory; retrained and returned to you the patient!

Awards: In 2008 Prof Dr Galon was awarded The Colon Cancer Research Schaeverbeke Award, Fondation de France,& the Clinical Research Award, Rose Lamarca, Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale.

INSERM UMRS1138  Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology (Team 15) Cordeliers Research Center 15 Rue de l'Ecole de Medecine 75006 Paris, France
INSERM
Laboratory of Prof Jerome Galon Integrative Cancer Immunology (Team 15)
Cordeliers Research Center

In 2010 he received the William B. Coley Award from the Cancer Research Institute, NY, USA, 2011: the French National Academy of Science & the French National Academy of Medicine (2011) awards.

He has published many scientific papers and book chapters.


Health professionals and interested patients;

Visit INSERM UMRS 1138
Cordeliers Research Center
 at http://www.ici.upmc.fr/

For more about Integrative Cancer Immunology Laboratory and their research projects, Immunoscore, publications, seminars and links.

Health professionals – I especially recommend the Publications page and homepage side bar at INSERM’s website.

Prof Galon was a guest of QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane Qld , Australia. See their website at http://www.qimrberghofer.edu.au/

To listen to the audio – live streaming log on to the URL below. You can download this and other interviews with cancer experts at:

http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/78656/how-our-immune-system-fights-cancer-knowledge-to-help-you-navigate-the-cancer-maze

To be continued……..

Enjoy the weekend….Grace

How Your Body Can Fight Cancer – Immunotherapies are on their way Grace Gawler with Professor Rajiv Khanna

How Your Body Can Fight Cancer – Immunotherapies are on their way! QIMR Brisbane is celebrating their cancer research findings by hosting a series of immunology presentations during Immunotherapy Week, June 15 – June 21 2014. Special Guest speaker will be Professor Jérôme Galon, Cordelier Research Center, Paris, France whose topic is “Cancer cure may be inside you and unleashed by immunotherapy”. To bring public awareness to Immunotherapy Week at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane Professor Rajiv Khanna Director of immunotherapy and vaccine development was interviewed on Navigating the Cancer Maze radio this week to publicize the need to bring research findings and medical trials into public awareness.

How Your Body Can Fight Cancer – Immunotherapies are on their way!

QIMR Brisbane is celebrating their cancer research findings by hosting a series of immunology presentations during Immunotherapy Week, June 15 – June 21 2014. Special Guest speaker will be Professor Jérôme Galon, Cordelier Research Center, Paris, France whose topic is “Cancer cure may be inside you and unleashed by immunotherapy”.

907477-rajiv-khannaTo bring public awareness to Immunotherapy Week at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane Professor Rajiv Khanna Director of immunotherapy and vaccine development was interviewed on Navigating the Cancer Maze radio this week to publicize the need to bring research findings and medical trials into public awareness. In particular he discusses his breakthrough immunotherapy research on Glioblastoma Multiforme.

As well on Navigating the Cancer Maze, Prof Khanna also discusses his research and clinical trial results on nasopharyngeal carcinoma, an aggressive throat cancer that has has shown response to immune therapies.

Image: Above – Cancer researcher Professor Rajiv Khanna, pictured with patient Eddie Chen, has developed a promising new treatment. Picture: Annette Dew Source: The Courier-Mail.

CLICK HERE to read Janelle Miles Courier Mail article – ‘Queensland Institute of Medical Research scientist Rajiv Khanna unveils promising new treatment for aggressive throat cancer’  published FEBRUARY 02, 2012

To listen to this very interesting and highly informative audio interview or to download on itunes (both free of charge), visit the link below direct to voice America and my show webpage.

http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/78495/navigating-the-brain-cancer-maze-promising-results-from-world-first-brain-cancer-trials

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