Methods of Cancer Biotherapy

Biologist Dr. Doping tells about chemotherapy restrictions anticancer vaccines and gene therapy drugs.What are the limitations of chemotherapy and radiotherapy? What is the basis modern methods of cancer biotherapy? What are promising developments underway in the US and China?

Today one of the most unavoidable diseases with which humanity is trying to fight for a long time, is a cancer, oncology. Fight trying effectively enough over the last 3-4 decades has increased the efficiency of the fight so that healing increased by 20%. But the population is aging, so the incidence of the disease has increased. We, of course, developed surgery techniques - these are the first line of defense: it is best to cut out the tumor and forget about it. But there is something invisible, and the doctor is not to just can get. Therefore, there are other methods, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, when we are not even seeing can affect the tumor cells.

Tumor cells, on the one hand, are our native cells - they appear in our body. On the other hand, they cause us harm. Somehow, it is necessary to distinguish between their own and others, tumor cells and normal. The action, which is based, for example, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, - is that the tumor cells divide more rapidly than normal cells. Therefore, using the methods of chemotherapy or radiation therapy fails to remove these tumor cells. But, alas, the cells, for example, blood, immune system, skin cells, hair also divide rapidly, so chemotherapy and radiotherapy affect these cells, too, thereby harming the normal cells of the body. Therefore it is necessary to take breaks in chemotherapy and radiotherapy and the tumor progresses in the meantime.

Therefore, research efforts were aimed at to develop some new additional therapies that in the intervals between chemotherapy and radiotherapy could be more than a treat. Just this was the tumor biotherapy. It is based on the fact that at the present level of knowledge may recognize his or someone else's - or is a tumor cell, or a stranger. Of course, this is not a perfect technology, especially on the use of tumor vaccines, which are probably the main means of cancer biotherapy. One well-known American scientist in the early XX century, said a phrase that immunize against cancer will be as hard as trying to tear away from a vaccine left ear, leaving intact the right, that is untouched, because it is his.

To improve the quality of our life buy Peptides (Cytomax) Bonomarlot, Vladonix for prevention cancer.

What is the basis modern methods of cancer biotherapy? Primarily this specific antibodies that bind to tumor specific molecules that are specific for tumors, the antibodies and inhibit the growth of tumor cells. It is used quite actively. For example, a dozen years there have antitumor agent such as Herceptin - a recombinant antibody which is directed to the treatment of breast cancer. It operates effectively. There was quite a large number of similar or analogues of antibody action. Today panel of antibodies - a dozen specific drugs directed against prostate cancer and anti-tumor-related blood diseases, breast, and so on. Good enough spectrum of antibodies, and this cancer biotherapy.

There is a method, which we have already mentioned - is a cancer vaccine. We've learned that the vaccine - it is a means of prevention, prevention. But we do not know where the tumor originated. It emerged, and only after that we have to treat the tumor. Accordingly, we are facing a slightly different situation, not a prophylactic vaccine and a therapeutic vaccine. When we very clearly have to share their, normal tissue, and someone else's. It is very difficult to do.

Alien, tumor, often low-immunogenic, ie, immune response, someone else is very weak.

If the microorganism, a virus that penetrates into us, we have a fever, developing an inflammatory response (we got used to it, our immune system has got used to the fact that the immune response against this occurs), the tumor develops from within. Accordingly, it develops quietly and teaches the body to what is their own, but nevertheless it is a stranger. It is therefore important to find a specific tumor antigens that set it apart from the norm, and to make anti-tumor vaccine directed specifically against these antigens.

There are a number of anti-tumor vaccines, which are at various stages of clinical trials, development and even application. In the late 90-ies of XX - the beginning of XXI century in Moscow, there was a great program, which funded the Yuri Luzhkov, aimed just at the treatment of tumors. Under this program quite successfully developed a number of Russian anti-tumor vaccines. This specific vaccine were based on the genetically modified cells, and so-called dendritic vaccines. It was a large complex of measures aimed at cancer biotherapy.

The efficiency of these things, frankly, is not very high, because it is not prevention, and therapy. But even the small time that a patient receives between chemotherapy sessions - while his tumor is not growing - is a huge advantage. We win time for the use of other medications. Plus we're working on those tumor cells that even chemotherapeutic agents may be invisible or inaccessible. Therefore it is considered very promising method for cancer biotherapy today, and a large number of developments abroad and in our country, in Russia, is aimed at making better methods.

In 2012, the United States has been approved for use - is already commercially approved as a drug sold in pharmacies, - the anti-tumor vaccine based on dendritic cells directed against prostate cancer. In fact, a small group of patients who have only prostate cancer who do not help other medicines, this vaccine has shown very good results. Increased life span was 70% or more. This is a very significant figure.

In the People's Republic of China at the beginning of the XXI century, in the very first years, it was approved by the whole two gene therapy drug. This, too, biotherapy, as used genes aimed at the treatment of cancer and based on the action of the known p53 gene. Both drugs were based on the use of knowledge about the work of this gene, although they were based on slightly different principles. Very good performance shown by these gene-therapy drugs, biological products for the treatment of certain cancers - for example, the combined use of chemotherapy and gene-therapeutic drug in the treatment of head and neck cancer gives longer life expectancy by about 70%.

Particularly active methods of cancer biotherapy began to grow somewhere in the second half of the 90-ies of XX century. And at first it seemed that any one method is the nicest, most antibodies are good or some cancer vaccines based on dendritic cells. How many of them said! This will be a panacea! The answer is no. It turns out that human biology and the immune system is quite complex. So today is the development in terms of combining biotherapy methods or combinations of methods of biotherapy with other therapies. I just mentioned that China is effectively used gene-therapeutic agent in conjunction with a chemotherapeutic agent. And this is a very good combination, which effectively helps. They use a combination of different methods of biotherapy.

Today's advances in biology has allowed to define a very thin target for such the targeted or target effects. That is, it is necessary to work punctually, the nail on the beat. I would say that this is also biotherapeutic methods because they work precisely one molecule of some kind, although the impact is via some small chemical molecules.

Because it affects a particular biological molecule, it blocks it and stops the growth of the tumor.

Little else has gone chemotherapy plus biotherapy development, when we learned new things about the biological organism, to understand how they are involved in tumor progression, to understand how we can block them directed, and under it already picked up a chemical molecule. There is already there biotherapy synthesis, because it is very punctually directed to a biological basis, and modern chemistry, crystallography, etc., very wide range of things, but they are based on biology.

Today, a large number of methods biotherapy is in clinical trials, and in a third step, at the final stage of clinical trials. It is likely that in the case of cancer, many of them will remain in the third stage of clinical trials, because each of us is a neoplastic process in its own unique way, and to pick up some universal substance will be very difficult.

In rare cases, there will be some universal medicine for all. Most likely, it will be individualized in terms of certain technologies. That is biotherapy in any case will be fundamentally different from the existing methods of cancer therapy, because it will take into account the individual, personal characteristics of the organism, thus transforming general medicine out what it is - on individual, personalized treatment, including prophylactic.