A NEW BOOST FOR CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY
April 2nd, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: General healthNo Comments
The National Cancer Institute has launched a large scale (200 patients) test of an immune hormone called thymosin that could make non-surgical cancer therapy more successful. Cancer specialists are investigating thymosin’s possible role in immunotherapy, the process of stimulating the body’s own defenses against the disease.
Many authorities believe that cancer cells gain a foothold when our immune system becomes less efficient in seeking them out and destroying them. Unfortunately, this immune function is largely under the control of the thymus glands, two soft, pinkish gray lobes found in the upper chest that gradually disappear as we age.
The body employs chemical messengers like thymosin to alert various components of the immune system to their roles. According to a report in Science 81 (2:73), when thymosin levels are artificially increased, the immune system reacts by fighting cancer cells with greater vigor.
One study of 55 patients with a particularly difficult-to-treat cancer, small cell cancer of the lung, was summarized. Among 21 patients who received the highest doses of the drug, six were alive and free of disease after two years. Average survival time in this group increased from 240 to 450 days. While no firm conclusion can be reached from such a small study, larger studies now in progress should demonstrate whether a deficient immune defense system against cancer can always be corrected by thymosin, and for how long the effect lasts.
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