Immunotherapy, New Hope In Fight Against Cancer

Immunology experts say immunotherapy is now becoming the fourth modality in the fight against cancer, joining other medical cures such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.

Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg and colleagues at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. used a gene therapy approach that transferred tumor-killing genes into the white blood cells of the patients with advanced melanoma, a rare type of skin cancer. The cells multiplied and attacked the tumors in two of their patients. Both have been living cancer-free 19 months after the experiment. The study showed it was possible to transfer cancer-fighting traits into the genes of patients.

Dr. Rosenberg’s strategy was to take ordinary white blood cells from the cancer patients and modify them in the lab with genes derived from patients who seemed to have the ability to control melanoma naturally. These newly modified white blood cells are then infused into the bloodstream of the melanoma patient. “We are able to stimulate the immune system in ways that weren’t possible before”, said the lead researcher on Sept. 27 at a panel discussion at the Dana Center in Washington,D.C, about immunotherapy for cancer.