Immunology to combat cancer: The final frontier
18.10.13
Essentially, immunotherapies harness the human body’s immune system to fight tumors. A very early hint that the body’s immune system could possibly be used to fight cancer came in 1890 – when a New York City surgeon, William Coley learned of the interesting case of Fred Stein: Stein had sarcoma, a cancer of the body’s connective tissue. Stein’s case was declared “absolutely hopeless” – until he got an infection caused by streptococcal bacteria. As there were no antibiotics at the time, Stein’s body had to fight off the infection without the help of modern medicines we would use today. The big surprise? Not only did his body manage to fight off the infection – Stein also left the hospital without any further discernable signs of his cancer. Coley concluded that Stein’s body had somehow fought off the cancer.
Over 100 years later, we know that this is a real possibility. Today, immunotherapy drugs are already being used to treat a variety of cancers, including prostrate, breast, bladder, kidney and lung. What is so odd about immunotherapies – and another reason it took researchers some time to realize their real potential – is the fact that these drugs may first increase the tumor size. For other cancer drugs you can use tumor size to monitor progression and survival. No more. With immunotherapies, tumor growth may progress for weeks – but then the real results start to show, as they begin go shrink and/or disappear. Now that we’ve seen enough success stories, we are on a very promising path.
Many researchers think that immunotherapy drugs will be most effective when combined with other treatments, such as radiation or chemotherapy, or targeted treatments. This points to a need for collaboration between pharma companies – traditionally competitors – to perfect the science and pinpoint the best treatments possible. As it will not be possible to study all possible combinations of treatments, we need to find a model to “learn on the way” – such as tracking all patients in registries. That way we can get real-world data from patients that are given the best possible treatment available.
I’ve noted before that collaboration is becoming increasingly important in the healthcare field, as we work to improve patient outcomes – and this is no exception. If we are to tap into the promise offered by immunotherapies, this is a trend that will have to continue.
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