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Immunotherapy- What You Should Know

July 5, 2020 By

Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. Unlike traditional treatments that use chemotherapy and radiation to stop the growth of cancer – or to kill cancer cells outright – immunotherapy unblocks the immune system to allow the body to target and destroy the cancer.

The immune system detects and destroys abnormal cells. In fact, the immune system most likely prevents or slows the growth of many types of cancer cells. Immune cells are often found in or near tumors, for example. These cells, known as tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), are often a sign that a person’s immune system is fighting the cancer. The National Cancer Institute notes that patients whose tumors contain TILs often fare better than those people whose cancer does not contain these lymphocytes.

While the immune system can prevent or slow the spread of cancer, cancer cells can avoid destruction by the immune system in a number of ways. Cancer cells may undergo genetic changes that make them harder for the immune system to detect, for example, or the surface of cancer cells may have proteins that turn off immune cells. In some cases, cancer cells can even cause the cells around the tumor to interfere with the immune system and prevent the destruction of cancer cells. Immunotherapy helps the immune system fight cancer.

Immunotherapy: Then and Now

Immunotherapy has its roots in 19th century medicine, when two German scientists independently noticed that patients’ tumors shrank after suffering a common skin infection. Bone surgeon William Bradley Coley first attempted to harness the immune system for treating bone cancer in 1891. Discoveries of T cells, interleukins, and other components of the immune system accelerated the research that led to cancer immunotherapy used today.

Medical professionals now refer to immunotherapy as the “fifth pillar” of cancer therapy, joining surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted therapy. Because it has become such an important approach to cancer treatment, and because of an increasing number of FDA approvals for immunotherapy drugs, a growing number of pharmaceutical companies are now offering immunotherapy drugs. In fact, Grand View Research, Inc. predicts the global cancer immunotherapy market will likely reach $126.9 billion by 2026. This growing market will help more patients get the immunotherapy drugs they need to treat cancer.

Doctors now use immunotherapy to treat a variety of cancers, including:

  • Lung cancer
  • Melanoma and some other types of skin cancers
  • Kidney cancer
  • Bladder cancer
  • Head and neck cancers
  • Lymphoma, which is cancer of the infection-fighting cells of the immune system

“Immunotherapy” is an umbrella term that covers several types of treatment for cancer, which can include:

Immune checkpoint inhibitors – Natural proteins, known as immune checkpoints, prevent the immune system response from being too strong, but they may prevent the immune system response from being strong enough to fight cancer; immune checkpoint inhibitors blocks these checkpoints to allow the body to mount a very strong immune response to cancer cells

T-cell transfer therapy – T-cells are a part of the immune system that recognize and kill viruses and abnormal cells; T-cell transfer therapy involves taking immune cells from the tumor, reproducing them in a lab, and then reintroducing them into the body through a needle in the vein

Monoclonal antibodies – Created in a lab, monoclonal antibodies bind to specific targets on cancer cells, thereby marking the cells for destruction by the immune system

Treatment vaccines – Boosts the body’s immune response against cancer

Immune system modulators – These drugs enhance the immune system’s response to cancer

Clinicians can administer immunotherapy in a variety of ways, including intravenous (IV) through a needle in a vein, oral, and topical preparations in cream form. In cases of bladder cancer, immunotherapy can be delivered via intravesical administration of immunotherapy fluid directly into the bladder.

For more information on immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer, consult with a physician or cancer care specialist.

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Frank Magliochetti owes his professional success to his expertise in two areas: medicine and finance. After obtaining a BS in pharmacy from Northeastern University, he stayed on to enroll in the Masters of Toxicology program. He later specialized in corporate finance, receiving an MBA from The Sawyer School of Business at Suffolk University. His educational background includes completion of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School and the General Management Program at Stanford Business School. Frank Magliochetti has held senior positions at Baxter International, Kontron Instruments, Haemonetics Corporation, and Sandoz. Since 2000, he has been a managing partner at Parcae Capital, where he focuses on financial restructuring and interim management services for companies in the healthcare, media, and alternative energy industries. Last year, he was appointed chairman of the board at Grace Health Technology, a company providing an enterprise solution for the laboratory environment. Most recently; Frank was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Designer Genomics International, Inc. The Company has accumulated a growing body of evidence that highlights a link between alterations in the immune and inflammatory systems and the development of chronic human disease. The Company is visionary and has established itself as a leader in the field of inflammatory and immune genetic DNA and RNA biomarkers that play a causative role in debilitating conditions, such as atherosclerosis/heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and cancer.
A proprietary state-of-the art data mining bioinformatics program, called ‘cluster analysis’ will be used to measure disease development susceptibility with potential for earlier diagnosis and intervention. The company is developing a healthcare program based on its proprietary genetic panels that will allow people to be their own healthcare advocate and take an active role in their health status as well as longevity.

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Mr. Frank Magliochetti MBA
Managing Partner
Parcae Capital
www.parcaecapitalcorp.com
www.frankmagliochetti.com

Sources

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/immunotherapy

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6928196/

https://www.cancerresearch.org/immunotherapy/timeline-of-progress

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-cancer-immunotherapy-market

Filed Under: Cancer Treatment, Featured, Frank Magliochetti, Healthcare Industry News, Healthcare Trends, Immunotherapy, News Tagged With: , , ,

Color Compounds in Foods Lowering Risk of Lung Cancer?

January 26, 2017 By

Color Compound in Some Fruits and Vegetables Could Lower Lung Cancer Risk in Smokers

A pigment in oranges, sweet red peppers, and other fruits and vegetables may lower the risk of lung cancer in smokers, according to a new study.

Nicotine is the primary addictive component of tobacco and some e-cigarette liquids. Medical scientists believe nicotine contributes to cancer promotion and progression by activating nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The study results suggest that the color compound, known as beta-frankimagliochetti-healthcare-reportcryptoxanthin (BCX), reduces the number of these receptors. This means eating fruits and vegetables high in BCX might reduce the risk of lung cancer resulting from smoking.

Doctors diagnose about 222,500 new cases of lung cancer in the United States each year, according to the American Cancer Society, and more than 155,000 Americans will die from the disease each year. The American Lung Association notes that male smokers are 23 times more likely to develop lung cancer than are men who do not smoke, and female smokers are at 13 times greater risk of developing lung cancer than are non-smoking women.

Causing approximately 7,330 deaths among nonsmokers each year, exposure to secondhand smoke is also a risk factor for lung cancer.

Nicotine and the Growth of Lung Tumors

Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 compounds and many of these substances, upon inhalation, act as carcinogens to damage the cells lining the lungs. While nicotine does not cause lung cancer directly, the addictive compound can promote lung tumor growth.

Study co-author Xiang-Dong Wang, of the Jean Mayer United States Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, MA, and colleagues provide more insight into how nicotine promotes lung cancer.

frankmagliochetti-helathcare-ReportWhen inhaled, nicotine binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α7 (α7-nAChR), which is a nicotine receptor lying on the surface of the lungs. The binding action prompts a signaling cascade that results in the proliferation of cells and the formation of new blood vessels. Cell proliferation and blood vessel formation are processes involved in the growth of cancer.

Nicotine also increases the production of nicotinic receptors, actually creating more α7-nAChR on which to bind. Providing more nicotinic receptors strengthens the signaling cascade, further encouraging the growth of lung cancer cells. In other words, the more a person smokes or suffers secondhand exposure to smoke, the more receptors he or she develops, the stronger the process encouraging the growth cancer.

Wang and colleagues think that consuming BCX could effectively reduce the number of α7-nAChR receptors on the lungs, thereby decreasing the potential growth of lung cancer cells.

BCX reduced lung tumor growth in laboratory mice

BCX is a carotenoid that gives yellow, orange and red fruits and vegetables their color. Oranges, tangerines, butternut squash, and sweet red peppers contain beta-cryptoxanthin.

In an earlier study, Wang and a team of researchers observed an association between eating foods rich in BCX and a lower risk of lung cancer in humans. In this study, the team focused on pinpointing the mechanisms underlying the link between a BCX-rich diet and lowered risk of lung cancer in smokers.

The scientists administered a daily injection of a carcinogen derived from nicotine to two groups of mice. The test group of mice also received a daily dose of BCX before and after the nicotine injection. The researchers found that, compared with the mice that did not receive the carotenoid, the test group experienced a 52-63 percent reduction in lung tumor growth.frank magliochetti-healthcare-report

The researchers determined 870 micrograms, which is the equivalent to one sweet pepper or two tangerines per day for humans, as the most effective daily dose of BCX for reducing lung tumor growth.

The team then tests BCX on human lung cancer cells, both with and without α7-nAChR. They discovered that lung cancer cells with α7-nAChR receptors were less likely to spread after exposure to the color compound, as compared with lung cancer cells without those receptors.

Further research could provide a better understanding of how consuming foods rich in beta-cryptoxanthin might affect the development of lung cancer in humans.

Source

http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/content/9/11/875

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/non-small-cell-lung-cancer/about/key-statistics.html

http://www.lung.org/lung-health-and-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/lung-cancer/resource-library/lung-cancer-fact-sheet.html?referrer=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/315404.php

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release new sites dedicated to the industry. Frank currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

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Filed Under: Featured, Frank Magliochetti Report, Healthcare Industry, Healthcare Industry News, Healthcare Innovations, News Tagged With: , , ,