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Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while immunotherapies that reduce or suppress are classified as suppression immunotherapies.
Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines or eye. In women, they most commonly occur on the legs, while in men they most commonly occur on the back. About 25% of melanomas develop from moles. Changes in a mole that can indicate melanoma include an increase in size, irregular edges, change in color, itchiness or skin breakdown.
Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is an interleukin, a type of cytokine signaling molecule in the immune system. It is a 15.5–16 kDa protein that regulates the activities of white blood cells (leukocytes, often lymphocytes) that are responsible for immunity. IL-2 is part of the body's natural response to microbial infection, and in discriminating between foreign ("non-self") and "self". IL-2 mediates its effects by binding to IL-2 receptors, which are expressed by lymphocytes. The major sources of IL-2 are activated CD4+ T cells and activated CD8+ T cells.
Cancer immunotherapy is the artificial stimulation of the immune system to treat cancer, improving on the immune system's natural ability to fight the disease. It is an application of the fundamental research of cancer immunology and a growing subspeciality of oncology.
Uveal melanoma is a cancer (melanoma) of the eye involving the iris, ciliary body, or choroid. Tumors arise from the pigment cells (melanocytes) that reside within the uvea and give color to the eye. These melanocytes are distinct from the retinal pigment epithelium cells underlying the retina that do not form melanomas. When eye melanoma is spread to distant parts of the body, the five-year survival rate is about 15%.
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Lymphocyte-activation gene 3, also known as LAG-3, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the LAG3 gene. LAG3, which was discovered in 1990 and was designated CD223 after the Seventh Human Leucocyte Differentiation Antigen Workshop in 2000, is a cell surface molecule with diverse biologic effects on T cell function. It is an immune checkpoint receptor and as such is the target of various drug development programs by pharmaceutical companies seeking to develop new treatments for cancer and autoimmune disorders. In soluble form it is also being developed as a cancer drug in its own right.
Vaccine therapy is a type of treatment that uses a substance or group of substances to stimulate the immune system to destroy a tumor or infectious microorganisms such as bacteria or viruses.
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Professor Gustav Gaudernack is a scientist working in the development of cancer vaccines and cancer immunotherapy. He has developed various strategies in immunological treatment of cancer. He is involved in several ongoing cellular and immuno-gene therapeutic clinical trials and his research group has put major efforts into the development of various T cell-based immunotherapeutic strategies.
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ALECSAT technology is a novel method of epigenetic cancer immunotherapy being used by the company CytoVac. It uses a patient's own immune system to target tumor cells in prostate cancer, glioblastomas, and potentially pancreatic cancer. ALECSAT research, directed by Alexei Kirken and Karine Dzhandzhugazyan, has led to several clinical trials.
MDSC are a heterogenous group of immune cells from the myeloid lineage.
Cryoimmunotherapy, also referred to as cryoimmunology, is an oncological treatment for various cancers that combines cryoablation of tumor with immunotherapy treatment. In-vivo cryoablation of a tumor, alone, can induce an immunostimulatory, systemic anti-tumor response, resulting in a cancer vaccine—the abscopal effect. Thus, cryoablation of tumors is a way of achieving autologous, in-vivo tumor lysate vaccine and treat metastatic disease. However, cryoablation alone may produce an insufficient immune response, depending on various factors, such as high freeze rate. Combining cryotherapy with immunotherapy enhances the immunostimulating response and has synergistic effects for cancer treatment.
Cancer vaccine targeting CD4+ T cells is a type of vaccine used to treat existing cancer. Cancerous cells usually cannot be recognized by the human immune system, and therefore cannot be destroyed. Some researchers state that cancer can be treated by increasing the response of T cells, especially CD4+ T cells, to cancerous cells through cancer vaccine injection.
References
- ↑ Berd, D; Maguire Jr, H. C.; Mastrangelo, M. J.; Murphy, G (1994). "Activation markers on T cells infiltrating melanoma metastases after therapy with dinitrophenyl-conjugated vaccine". Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy. 39 (3): 141–7. doi:10.1007/s002620050105. PMID 7923243.
- ↑ Manne, J; Mastrangelo, M. J.; Sato, T; Berd, D (2002). "TCR rearrangement in lymphocytes infiltrating melanoma metastases after administration of autologous dinitrophenyl-modified vaccine". Journal of Immunology. 169 (6): 3407–12. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.169.6.3407 . PMID 12218163.
- ↑ "Dinitrophenyl". NCI Drug Dictionary. National Cancer Institute.
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