Immunotherapy with dendritic cells can effectively combat cancer, reducing the risk of recurrence and improving the survivor’s quality of life, says Dr Hari Goyal
Cancer is a lethal disease that is swallowing India silently. Even those types which were once known to be rare are no longer so. In India, approximately 4.5 lakh people are living with the disease, and there are more than 7 lakh new cases being registered yearly. About 5,56,400 deaths are known to be cancer-related. Also, it’s estimated that 71 per cent of all cancer-related deaths take place between the age group of 30 to 69.
Among women, cancer cases as well as mortality are increasing. The main reason can be attributed to low awareness and late detection. Our country stands third after China and USA in terms of the highest number of cancer cases among women which is growing per annum at 4.5 to 5 per cent. Among men, lung, oral and stomach cancers are the leading causes of death.
Today, one is aware about the various causes which play a role in the development of cancer, and many more factors are at least suspected of contributing to the emergence of cancer. Therefore, it is rather questionable whether a single main cause for the development of cancer will ever be identified. However, some obvious reasons due to which the disease is on the rise in India are the consumption of tobacco, excess exposure to ultraviolet radiation, consuming carcinogenic chemicals and food along with the exposure to rays and emissions of ionising radiation.
Cancer, a complex disease
Cancer is not bound by age or sex, nor is it one of a kind. About hundred different types of cancers are known to humans, and all differ from one another — the average at which they appear, the growth rate and the tendency to metastasis. Furthermore, incidence of cancer is higher in the metros than in the rural areas due to the changing lifestyle and imitation of the Western lifestyle. It’s crucial to follow a healthy diet, exercise daily to be cancer-free.
Immunotherapy, a new way of treating cancer
Considering the impact and progression of cancer, immunotherapy is a new class of cancer treatment. Scientists working on immunotherapy have basically taken a diverse route by tricking the body’s own defences into combating the rival cancer within. For centuries, this has been an aspiration of medical scientist which has now become a reality.
Human tumours express a number of protein antigens that can be recognised by T cells, thus providing potential targets for cancer immunotherapy. Dendritic cells (DCs) are rare leukocytes that are uniquely potent in their ability to present antigens to T cells, and this property has prompted their recent application to therapeutic cancer vaccines. Isolated DCs loaded with tumor antigen ex vivo and administered as a cellular vaccine have been found to induce protective and therapeutic anti-tumor immunity in experimental animals. In pilot clinical trials of DC vaccination for patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and melanoma, induction of anti-tumour immune responses and tumour regressions have been observed. Additional trials of DC vaccination for a variety of human cancers are under way, and methods for targeting tumour antigens to DCs in vivo are also being explored. Exploitation of the antigen-presenting properties of DCs thus offers promise for the development of effective cancer immunotherapies.
Immunotherapy with dendritic cells has give a new ray of hope for patients. Countless research and treatment facilities worldwide are increasingly turning towards this dendritic cell therapy. In fact, even modern nations like USA have accepted and approved this treatment. Prostate and pancreatic cancers have even got FDA approval for using immunotherapy for its treatment in the country.
Although immunotherapy has been there in the country in the form of vaccine and injections since the last five years, the results and the success rate were neither promising nor encouraging. On the other hand, the effectiveness of a treatment with dendritic cells has been encouraging. It has been proven in the case of skin, kidney, breast, pancreatic, colon, ovarian and prostate cancer.
Effective implementations of the therapy with lANEX-DC, which utilises better technology and technique, has been encouraging. Cancer patients who have used this therapy as compared to those who have undergone the previous versions of immunotherapy, have witnessed an increase in the quality of life — prolonging the life span and controlling symptoms by facilitating them live a routine life.
For most types of cancer there exist standard treatments which have been developed over decades. It is recommended to make use of these treatments and supplement them with immune therapy, since it is known that tumour cells damaged by chemotherapy or radiation are much easier to destroy with immune cells than undamaged tumour cells.
Treatment with dendritic cells is often used when conventional therapies have not been successful. In addition, it is a gentle treatment in contrast to other forms of treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiation, along with rare cases of side effect.
While there are other similar medical facilities already available in India that have been in use for a few years and which give vaccination in six cycles, at some outlets the same treatment can be done in only one cycle and the treatment is like injecting immunity medicine into the body.
Doctors who have recommended immunotherapy for their patients are now satisfied with the results, calling it a miracle.
(The author is an oncologist at Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon)