Dendritic Cell Therapy
Fighting cancer is not a ‘one treatment solves all’ system; rather, treatment include a synthesis of various components designed to combat cancer cells, boost the immune system, and aid in increasing the body’s overall strength. One factor that must be highly prioritized when developing a cancer treatment plan is the immune system.
“The immune system is important to cancer patients in many ways because
Cancer can weaken the immune system
Cancer treatments may weaken the immune system
The immune system may help to fight cancer
The immune system protects the body against illness and infection, [but] cancer can weaken the immune system by spreading into the bone marrow. The bone marrow makes blood cells that help to fight infection.”[1]
While cancer can reduce strength the immune system, it is important to take as many steps as possible to build it back up because “some cells of the immune system can recognize cancer cells as abnormal and kill them.” These cells are known as dendritic cells.
Dendritic cell therapy is a cancer treatment that integrates the healing and fighter elements of the immune system to increase overall health while simultaneously fighting cancer cells.
What are dendritic cells, and how are they unique?
Dendritic cells are a fundamental aspect of the immune system. Specifically, dendritic cells “are a type of antigen-presenting cell (APC) that form an important role in the adaptive” aspect of the immune system; they also work “to present antigens.”
Most importantly, dendritic cells have a function that is uniquely why they best help fight cancer: they can “induce a primary immune response in the inactive or resting naïve T lymphocytes. To do this, the dendritic cells capture the antigens from invading bodies, which they process and then present on their cell surface and presented, along with the necessary accessory or co-stimulation molecules.” [2]
In other words, “the human immune system is very powerful, and also very complex: it is an ‘army’ with many divisions and many different kinds of weapons. Dendritic cells are the ‘General’ of this immune system ‘army.’ They deliver the ‘marching orders’ to the rest of the immune system agents which tell those agents what to attack.” [3]
The significance of dendritic cells is illustrated in the organizer below, courtesy of Northwest Bio Therapeutics:
For more in depth information visit dendritic.info
More Information
Dendritic cells have been used in cancer therapy since the mid 1990s; it “is safe and can induce anti-tumor immunity, even in patients with advanced disease.”[4] This therapy targets the immune system, working with its built-in components, the dendritic cells, to strengthen the system overall. Dendritic cell therapy is not a stand-alone treatment, but rather it functions most optimally when synthesized with other treatments that fight the cancer cells. CMN Hospital is a proud provider of dendritic cell therapy. To learn more about this treatment, and how it is administered click here. You can also contact us here.