Researchers from IKBFU Suggest Effective Way of Immunological Treatment of Cancer

The IKBFU Centre for Medical Biotechnologies has been always prioritising the research into new methods of cancer treatment. Extracorporeal immunotherapy is among these methods.

Immune system can effectively resist cancer only when a person is completely healthy. Otherwise, the disease causes a growth of malignant tumours. However, it is possible to help the immune system to treat cancer. For this purpose, donated blood, which contains all the elements of both innate and acquired immunity, is used.

Transfusiologists excrete white blood cells and process them with immunomodulators, that give the leukocytes antitumour cytotoxic properties. There is one more method when the excreted white blood cells are processed with both immunomodulators and antigens. In this case, antigen cells are injected subcutaneously.

Prof. Dr Victor Seledtsov, Senior Research Associate of the Centre for Medical Biotechnologies (IKBFU):

The Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University has a great research background in treatment of melanoma, kidney cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer and tumours of the central nervous system.

The next goal of the research is to learn how to use donated blood effectively.

The fact is that chemotherapy and radiation therapy influence immune system badly. That is why it is so difficult to stimulate antitumour immunity, particularly in the treatment of elderly patients. In this case the usage of donated blood is more reasonable.

Researchers improve methods of treating cancer with extracorporeal immunotherapy every day.

However, they say that anticancer immunotherapy can be effective only when both innate and acquired immunity mechanisms are used.

Prof. Dr Victor Seledtsov and Dr Galina Seledtsova have recently published an article in the scientific journal Oncotarget. The paper defines the new approach in oncology.

Prof. Dr Victor Seledtsov, Senior Research Associate of the Centre for Medical Biotechnologies (IKBFU):

Modern biotechnologies allow us to create various antibodies that can kill cancer cells. Though, the main problem is that antibodies cannot always identify cancer cells. When it happens, they attack healthy tissues. Therefore, we suggest using not one but several antibodies in suboptimal doses in order to destroy tumour cells selectively. The most important thing here is to achieve a threshold concentration of cytotoxic antibodies on tumour cells, avoiding damage of normal cells. In fact, we suggest using a kind of 'immunological knife', which is capable of highly selective destruction of cancer cells without destroying normal cells.

Prof. Dr Victor Seledtsov has also noted that the effectiveness of the treatment depends on the stage of cancer a lot. When the disease progresses, a tumour becomes something like a well-fortified stronghold, so the immune system barely can damage it, even if the immune-boosting drugs have been injected.

Therefore, cancer needs a comprehensive and personalized treatment, where immunotherapy plays an important role.