INVESTIGATIONAL THERAPIES FOR KIDNEY CANCER...!!!
Vaccine Therapy:
Vaccine therapy is an experimental treatment that uses the patient’s own tumor cells or tumor-associated products to vaccinate the patient. The goal is to boost the body’s immune system in order to fight cancer. Unlike other vaccines, which are preventative, cancer vaccines are therapeutic; that is, they treat the disease rather than prevent it. Once you have had surgery to remove a tumor, a portion of it is used to create a vaccine that is then re-introduced into the body. It is hoped that these naturally occurring substances will stimulate the immune system to attack any new cells that re-appear bearing the original tumor’s genetic code. Vaccine therapy using tumor cells should be discussed as a treatment option before your nephrectomy.
Vaccine therapy is still in an investigational stage, with numerous research programs in progress. Early results were mixed, but as techniques have evolved, results have become more promising. Oncophage®, a vaccine manufactured by Antigenics, is approved for use in Russia, but has not been approved by the FDA.
Stem Cell Transplants:
Blood stem cells reside in the bone marrow and perform the critical role of continually replenishing the body’s supply of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. When transplanted, stem cells and T-Lymphocytes can elicit an anti-tumor effect under certain conditions.
This is a highly experimental procedure, and patients with advanced metastatic cancer who did not respond to interferon alfa K2 therapy have been treated with transplantation of peripheral blood stem cells.51 The results of this approach remain experimental, and because of the serious side effects experienced by some patients, further refinement of the procedure is needed.
Stem cell transplantation is an intensive procedure and is only recommended in limited situations.
Gene therapy:
Introduces genetic material into a person's cell to fight cancer.
Vaccine therapy is an experimental treatment that uses the patient’s own tumor cells or tumor-associated products to vaccinate the patient. The goal is to boost the body’s immune system in order to fight cancer. Unlike other vaccines, which are preventative, cancer vaccines are therapeutic; that is, they treat the disease rather than prevent it. Once you have had surgery to remove a tumor, a portion of it is used to create a vaccine that is then re-introduced into the body. It is hoped that these naturally occurring substances will stimulate the immune system to attack any new cells that re-appear bearing the original tumor’s genetic code. Vaccine therapy using tumor cells should be discussed as a treatment option before your nephrectomy.
Vaccine therapy is still in an investigational stage, with numerous research programs in progress. Early results were mixed, but as techniques have evolved, results have become more promising. Oncophage®, a vaccine manufactured by Antigenics, is approved for use in Russia, but has not been approved by the FDA.
Stem Cell Transplants:
Blood stem cells reside in the bone marrow and perform the critical role of continually replenishing the body’s supply of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. When transplanted, stem cells and T-Lymphocytes can elicit an anti-tumor effect under certain conditions.
This is a highly experimental procedure, and patients with advanced metastatic cancer who did not respond to interferon alfa K2 therapy have been treated with transplantation of peripheral blood stem cells.51 The results of this approach remain experimental, and because of the serious side effects experienced by some patients, further refinement of the procedure is needed.
Stem cell transplantation is an intensive procedure and is only recommended in limited situations.
Gene therapy:
Introduces genetic material into a person's cell to fight cancer.