Unleashing the Power within Our Bodies
Our bodies are amazing and as modern science progresses; more often we realize that the answers to some of our more debilitating diseases lay within us, not a pill. In a recent pioneering study scientists are reprogramming T-cells in cancer patients to kill cancer cells. The study that initially began in Philadelphia had success with at least two patients thus far sending their leukemia into complete remission. Now scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx are using this research as a jumping off point, in which they are tracking down macrophages (white blood cells within tissues) within our own immune systems. The goal of this new study is to remove, prevent, or train these cells to attack tumors rather than assist them.
In the Albert Einstein study group is Dr. Jeffery Pollard, a recent recipient of the American Cancer Society Medal of Honor for his part in discovering the role macrophages play in metastatic breast cancer (the term, metastatic, describes a cancer that has spread to distant organs from the original tumor site). ``We think that in targeting macrophages, it will be a good strategy to help with the deadly stage of breast cancer, that is, metastasis of the bone and lung and other tissues`` says Pollard.
Eventually immune therapy may even replace or reduce the need for chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and certain types of cancers like glioblastoma (one of the most lethal forms of brain cancer) may no longer be a death sentence. The National Cancer Institute has so generously provided a Questions and Answers site for the most frequently asked questions regarding biological therapies which you can find here: www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/biological . If you or a loved one is battling cancer, speak to your oncologist or health care provider about the possibilities of immune system/biological treatments. Einstein would certainly be proud of their achievements and breakthrough research!
