Immunotherapy and Cancer treatment

Is immunotherapy a new treatment?

How can it help my immune system?

Is it a stand-alone treatment or together with
other conventional treatments?

What is immuno-therapy?

As the name suggest, it has to do with the immune systems of the body.

Other names for this immunotherapy are target therapy and biotherapy (or biological therapy).

This is a better treatment method as compared to the normal conventional treatment methods of radiation therapy, chemotherapy or surgery.

Basically, the philosophy behind this treatment is correct.

Cancer begins when there is a breakdown of the immune system that counter-attacks the cancer cells.

So to overcome cancer, strengthen the immune system.

Though this is a promising method, the treatment is still in its experimental stage.

Immune system and Immunotherapy for Cancer

Our immune system is very unique to each individual.

Immunotherapy uses substances to help the immune system function better. These substances used can be natural occurring substances or man-made substances. Because of that, some patients may accept the substance while others may reject them.

The immune system is a very intricate and complicated body system. It includes the white blood cells in your blood, the lymphatic nodes around your body, the thymus, spleen and bone marrow. They all work together among each other and with other body systems as well.

What it does is defend your body against micro-organism invasions that causes diseases by attacking them and flushing them out of your body.

Conventional treatment and natural (or alternative) treatment of cancer, both agree that strengthening the immune system is very important to eradicate cancer. But they differ in the importance placed on immunotherapy treatment.

Conventional treatments tend to downplay immunotherapy as a secondary treatment. This may be a profit orientated decision since radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery is big money, while immunotherapy is definitely a cheaper alternative.

Oncologists do not trust immunotherapy cancer treatment to be a major treatment option at present, and reluctantly would recommend using it for treating smaller cancer or Stage 1 cancers.

They might still use immunotherapy together with radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery because they know most of their patients already have their immune system destroyed by their conventional methods (also a slash-and-burn method - destroy everything in sight). The chemo drugs hunt down your immune system cells and destroy them together with cancer cells.

So researchers develop synthetic drugs known as immunotherapy vaccines or cancer vaccines such as:

• Neupogen (NU-po-jen) or G-CSF to increase white blood cell counts and help to prevent infection in people who are getting chemotherapy.

• Procrit, Epogen, or Erythropoietin (e-RITH-ro-po-i-tin) to help make red blood cells in people who have anemia.

• IL-11, Interleukin-11, Oprelvekin (oh-PREL-ve-kin), or Neumega to help make platelets cells.

Some laboratory-manufactured antibodies are also injected directly into cancer tissues to encourage the immune system cells to attack the cancer cells.

None of these drugs are without side effects.

Some of the known immediate side effects are rashes or swelling, flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, bone pain, and muscle aches and low blood pressure.

This therapy is so new that the long term side effects are yet unexplored.

Natural healing and immune system

Natural healing or treatment methods place "immunotherapy" as the main treatment method. They may not use the phrase "immuno-therapy" but a study of the entire different alternative, holistic, natural and herbal treatment methods reveal that "building up the immune system" is central to their various therapy methods.

Most natural healing products use herbal extracts, plant products or naturally occurring factors found in a healthy immune system.

They include:

• Agaricus mushrooms from Brazil. They have been found to be very effective. The mushroom from Africa is poisonous.

• Aloe Vera. This has been proven to help the body fight infections and malignant cells. It is also a detoxifier and a regulator for your immune system. The transparent fluid in the inner leaf of the plant is said to be medicinal besides a promoter for healing wounds, cuts and bruises.

• Beta Glucan. They occur as cellulose in plants, bran of cereal grains, cell wall of bakers' yeast, certain fungi, mushrooms and bacteria. They are noted for their ability to modulate the immune system and have anti-tumor effects.

• Carnivora. It is a patented phyto-nutrient extract of the Venus flytrap plant. It is non-toxic and contains properties that are immuno-modulatory, anti-viral, anti-tumor, anti-parasitic, antimicrobial & antibacterial.

• Chlorella. This is a single cell algae contains the green photosynthetic pigments chlorophyll. It is known to build the immune system.

• Colostrum. This is the milk produced by mammary glands of mammals just before giving birth. It is a nutrient that is rich with immune system boosters. Colostrum from animals can also be used provided the recipient is not lactose intolerant.

• Ganoderma. This is a kind of tropical mushroom that grows on wood. It has been used in traditional Asian medicines for thousands of years. It has therapeutic benefits such as anti-cancer effects and immuno-regulatory effects. It can help the liver to detoxify and suitable for those who wants to recover faster from radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

• Graviola or Soursop. This is a tropical fruit and has strong anti-cancer properties. The fruit and leaves have been used traditionally for medicinal values. It can strengthen one immune system as well.

•  Inositol. This a natural plant chemical found in rice bran. It has been reported to have anti-tumor effects and helps the body's immune system.

• MGN3. This product was developed by Dr. Mamdooh Ghoneum. It is made from rice bran and treated with polysaccharides from Shitake, Kawaratake, and Surehrotake mushrooms. It increases the natural killer cell production of our immune systems.

• Shark liver oil. This is obtained from sharks. The liver oil has been used by fishermen for centuries as a folk remedy for general health. It is well known for building the immune system especially for boosting the effectiveness of the lymphatic system.

• Mistletoe. It is a semi-parasitic plant that grows in the branches of the oak trees in Europe and Asia. The leaves, twigs and berries are traditionally used for making herbal medicine. It is known for stimulating the immune system as well as kill cancer cells. The public in the US became interested in mistletoe's anti-cancer claims when in 2001 the famous actress Suzanne Somers used mistletoe's extract for healing her cancer instead of chemotherapy.

Weigh the pros and cons

Since immunotherapy in conventional methods is so new, some doctors are reluctant to implement this procedure as a primary treatment.

If you have decided to go ahead with immunotherapy, my tips for you are to do the following:

1. Use as much natural substances of immune boosting substance for your immune system as possible. Stay away from new synthetic drugs with no knowledge of late side effects on your other body systems.

2. Be patient with the treatment because it takes a longer time to see any distinct result. The immune system cells have to take time to do battle with cancer cells and any new bacteria, viruses and hostile parasites that invade your body. How do you know you are winning the battle? Your own body will communicate with you. You will begin to "see" a decrease in your symptoms like those above, gain weight, feel better and overall improved vitality.

Further Readings:

Immunotherapy: A new therapy is being tested that relies on inducing the body's own immune cells to home in on cancer cells. And the approach, announced by a team at the University of California in San Diego (UCSD), should be suitable for all types of leukemia.

Immunotherapy for cancer: synthetic carbohydrate-based vaccines.

Skin cancer patient "cured" using his own blood cells.

Cancer - The New Frontier: Personal vaccines open doors.

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