Just as cancer is an attack on your body from within, the treatment or cure for cancer could also come from within.

YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

“The immune system protects the body against illness and infection that bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites can cause. It is a collection of reactions and responses that the body makes to damaged cells or infection.

The immune system can help to fight cancer

Some cells of the immune system can recognise cancer cells as abnormal and kill them. But this may not be enough to get rid of a cancer altogether.”[1]

As with real life wars, sometimes the defences can be overwhelmed by an aggressive enemy. It is then that they need a little support from an ally. In the case of cancer, that might be chemotherapy, which unfortunately does not always help in swaying the battle in the favour of your body and immune system. Fortunately, there are other promising developments.

[1] https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/body-systems-and-cancer/the-immune-system-and-cancer

TREATMENTS USING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM TO FIGHT CANCER.

CAR-T Therapy

A breakthrough treatment has shown remarkable regression in the size of tumour caused by glioblastoma - a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumour - which invades the nearby brain tissue, but generally does not spread to distant organs

Doctors say glioblastoma has a very high fatality rate - only 3-5 per cent of patients diagnosed with this type of tumour survive for more than three years. But the experimental therapy, which reprogrammes a person's own immune system to attack these tumours reported dramatic results.

In some cases, tumours seemingly melted away on brain scans by the next day, the outlet said in the report. Three studies have observed the new therapy, called CAR-T that is delivered directly to the brain.[2]

Attack T-cell

A newly-discovered part of our immune system could be harnessed to treat all cancers:

The Cardiff team discovered a T-cell and its receptor that could find and kill a wide range of cancerous cells in the lab including lung, skin, blood, colon, breast, bone, prostate, ovarian, kidney and cervical cancer cells.

The idea is that a blood sample would be taken from a cancer patient.

Their T-cells would be extracted and then genetically modified so they were reprogrammed to make the cancer-finding receptor.[3]

The Magic Tablet

Patients with aggressive, incurable cancers saw their tumours stop growing after they began taking a twice-a-day tablet.

The experimental drug, called ceralasertib, is designed to stop the tumour's cells from repairing themselves, causing them to die.

Researchers gave 67 patients who had not responded to conventional treatment the pills. In the early stage of the trial, more than half saw their tumours stop growing, while others did not see their cancer progress for at least three years.

Experts believe the drug could be combined with immune-boosting cancer treatments to increase their effectiveness.

Known as immunotherapy, they are offered to around one in ten cancer patients in the UK. They work by training the immune system to find and kill cancer cells.[4]

[1] What Is Cancer - Cancer Research UK

[2] Cancer Breakthrough Therapy Makes Brain Tumour Disappear

LIFESTYLE MODIFICATION THE KEY

Anticancer has been a bestselling phenomenon since Viking first published it in fall 2008. Now, a new edition addresses current developments in cancer research and offers more tips on how people living with cancer can fight it and how healthy people can prevent it. The new edition of Anticancer includes:

A groundbreaking study showing that lifestyle modification, as originally proposed in Anticancer, reduces mortality for breast cancer by an astounding 68 percent after completion of treatment

[4] Immune discovery 'may treat all cancer' - BBC News Health

[5] Daily pills may be answer to incurable cancer as patients with aggressive disease see tumors stop growing - Daily Mail

IMMUNE SYSTEM R & R

Have you noticed that people are the healthiest and live the longest when they live in places like rural Sardinia, Italy, isolated from modern industrial society? [1] Instead of fighting their way to get to the office though the toxic fumes on the highway, people there live a traditional, laid back life; walk lots; eat simply; and spend lots of time with family.

A failing immune system can often be attributed to the pressures of the modern lifestyle.

To give your immune system a fighting chance, give it some Rest and Recreation: Change your lifestyle if at all possible.

This includes:

• Avoiding further contact with things that cause cancer.
• Rejuvenating your body, mind and soul.
• Changing your diet.
• Using alternative and complementary treatments.
• Watch out for our upcoming blogs on these topics.

AVOID STRESS

Stress can weaken your immune system, leaving you prone to diseases like cancer.

Stress hormones can inhibit a process called anoikis, which kills diseased cells and prevents them from spreading... Chronic stress also increases the production of certain growth factors that increase your blood supply. This can speed the development of cancerous tumors.[2]

[6] Blue Zone Super Agers - Business Insider

[7] How stress affects cancer risk - MD Anderson

BOOKS TO HELP YOU

Immune Reboot by Dr. Robert G. Silverman