T-helper/T-regulator lymphocyte ratio as a new immunobiological index to quantify the anticancer immune status in cancer patients.
Brivio F, Fumagalli L, Parolini D, Messina G, Rovelli F, Rescaldani R, Vigore L, Vezzo R, Vaghi M, Di Bella S, Lissoni P.
In Vivo. 2008 Sep-Oct;22(5):647-50.
PMID: 18853761
RESULTS: The mean TH/TR ratio observed in patients with metasytases was significantly lower with respect to that found in both patients without metastases and controls. On the contrary, the absolute mean number of T-reg cells was higher in patients with metastases than in those without, but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The evaluation of T-reg cells in terms of their proportion with respect to T-helper cell total number seems to be more appropriate than the simple measurement of their absolute count, in order to quantify cancer-related immunosuppression. Thus, the TH/TR ratio could represent a useful biological marker to explore the immune status of cancer patients.
Preoperative treatment with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) increases tumor tissue infiltration of seemingly activated immune cells in colorectal cancer.
Lönnroth C, Andersson M, Arvidsson A, Nordgren S, Brevinge H, Lagerstedt K, Lundholm K.
Cancer Immun. 2008 Feb 29;8:5.
PMID: 18307280
MHC II protein (HLA-DP, -DQ, -DR) levels and infiltration by CD4+ T-helper cells of tumor stroma increased upon NSAID treatment, while CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocytes increased in both tumor stroma and epithelium. Molecules associated with immunosuppressive T regulatory cells (FOXP3, IL-10) were significantly decreased in indomethacin-exposed tumors. Standard oral administration of NSAID three days preoperatively was enough to increase tumor infiltration by seemingly activated immune cells. These findings agree with previous information that high pr
Interleukin 2-mediated conversion of ovarian cancer-associated CD4+ regulatory T cells into proinflammatory interleukin 17-producing helper T cells.
Leveque L, Deknuydt F, Bioley G, Old LJ, Matsuzaki J, Odunsi K, Ayyoub M, Valmori D.
J Immunother. 2009 Feb-Mar;32(2):101-8.
PMID: 19238008
doi: 10.1097/CJI.0b013e318195b59e
Thus, although the impact of TH17 cells on the evolution of EOC remains to be established, our data suggest that local IL-2 treatment in ovarian cancer may result in the conversion of tumor-associated Treg into TH17 cells, relieve Treg-mediated suppression, and contribute to enhance antitumor immunity.
Beta glucan is a scientifically proven biological defense modifier (BDM) that nutritionally potentiates and modulates the immune response. As a supplement, after swallowing orally, Beta glucan is ingested primarily through macrophage and dendritic immune cells, to nutritionally and safely yield, through immune response potentiation and modulation, in many instances various therapeutic healing effects generated by the immune cells. For many years Glucans have been investigated (History) for these immune enhancing properties, particularly their ability to activate macrophage immune cells and NK-Cells, plus in turn, the T-Cells, and B-Cells including selected cytokines and complement.
A heat-stable extract of white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) with potential chemopreventive and immunomodulating activities. Phytochemicals, such as polysaccharides and especially beta-D-glucans found in the white button mushroom extract, bind to and inhibit the activity of aromatase, an enzyme responsible for the conversion of androgens to estrogens and which is often upregulated in breast cancer cells. The consequent decrease in estrogen production may result in the suppression of estrogen-dependent cellular proliferation. In addition, this extract may promote dendritic cell (DC) maturation, increase interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) production, and may enhance natural killer (NK) cell activity, thus amplifying both innate and T cell-mediated immune responses against cancer cells. Check for active clinical trials or closed clinical trials using this agent.
A recently published study in Nutrition and Cancer (60(5), 643-651) by researchers at Kansai Medical University in Osaka, Japan has shown that AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound) enhances immune function by increasing the number of dendritic cells (DCs).
DCs are a key part of the immune system responsible for presenting foreign substances to other immune system cells.
The study was conducted in a double-blind randomized fashion where twenty-one healthy subjects received a placebo or AHCC at 3.0 g/day for 4 weeks. Blood samples were obtained and measured at baseline and at 4 weeks. The number of circulating types of DCs was measured which included CD 11c+ DCs (myeloid DC population; DC1) and CD11c- DCs (lymphoid DC population; DC2). Other parameters measured included mixed-leukocyte reaction (MLR), natural killer (NK) cell activity, the proliferative response of T lymphocytes toward mitogen (phytohemagglutinin [PHA]) and cytokine production of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, interferon gamma-gamma, and (alpha)-tumor necrosis factor.
One way tumors fly under the radar of the immune system is by using IDO, an enzyme used by fetuses to help avoid rejection, to recruit powerful regulatory T cells that turn down the immune response, researchers say.
Antitumor activity of human papillomavirus type 16 E7-specific T cells against virally infected squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
Albers A, Abe K, Hunt J, Wang J, Lopez-Albaitero A, Schaefer C, Gooding W, Whiteside TL, Ferrone S, DeLeo A, Ferris RL.
Cancer Res. 2005 Dec 1;65(23):11146-55.
PMID: 16322265
Mainstream medical treatment of cancer revolves around surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, used either alone or in combination (Isobe T et al 2005; Ostoros G et al 2005). Chemotherapy and radiation therapy cannot discriminate between cancer cells and healthy cells; thus, they damage both types of cells and cause serious and often debilitating side effects, frequently forcing patients to abandon treatment (Ettinger DS 2005; Giraud P et al 2004; Munden RF et al 2005). Therefore, it is not surprising that many cancer patients now opt to complement conventional treatments with alternative therapies that may not only temper the adverse side effects of conventional cancer therapy, but also improve its effectiveness via independent anti-cancer effects.
Active Hexose Correlated Compound (AHCC) is an alpha-glucan rich nutritional supplement produced from the mycelia of shiitake (Lentinula edodes) of the basidiomycete family of mushrooms, and should not be confused or used as a drug or medicine.[1][2] AHCC was originally designed to lower high-blood pressure. However, researchers at Tokyo University found AHCC's influence upon the innate immune system highly beneficial and published the results in 1992, though not in the commonly indexed scientific literature. In this study, researchers found that AHCC significantly increased natural killer (NK) cell activity in cancer patients, and also enhanced the effects of killer T-cells, and cytokines (interferon, IL-12, TNF-alpha
The effect of dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on T-lymphocyte subsets of patients with solid tumors.
Gogos CA, Ginopoulos P, Zoumbos NC, Apostolidou E, Kalfarentzos F.
Cancer Detect Prev. 1995;19(5):415-7.
PMID: 7585727
"December 17, 2009 (San Antonio) - A new targeted cancer drug has been shown to shrink tumors in women with metastatic breast cancer after an average of seven other drugs, including Herceptin, failed.
The new drug, called T-DM1, combines Herceptin with a potent chemotherapy drug. It's a Trojan horse approach, where Herceptin homes in on cancer cells and delivers the cancer-killing agent directly to its target.
Tumors shrank in one-third of women with metastatic breast cancer given T-DM1, says Ian Krop, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. In another 12%, tumors stopped growing for at least six months.
The women remained cancer-free for an average of seven months -- results unheard of in patients this sick, he says.
All the women, who had breast tumors for an average of three years, had cancer that had metastasized, or spread to other parts of the body. They had been treated with an average of seven different therapies, including Herceptin, Tykerb, and Xeloda, and each had failed."
C. Cox, S. D. Merajver, S. Yoo, R. D. Dick, G. J. Brewer, J. S.-J. Lee, and T. N. Teknos
Inhibition of the Growth of Squamous Cell Carcinoma by
Tetrathiomolybdate-Induced Copper Suppression in a Murine Model
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, July 1, 200
Th1/Th2 balance: the hypothesis, its limitations, and implications for health and disease.
Kidd P.
Altern Med Rev. 2003 Aug;8(3):223-46. Review.
PMID: 12946237
Th1 pathways typically produce activation
of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (Tc), NK cells,
macrophages, and monocytes, all of which can
attack cancer cells and generally defend against
tumors.55 IFN-gamma and other Th1 cytokines are
typically lower in advanced cancer patients, while
the Th2 marker IL-4 can be higher or unchanged
Researchers at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that a widely used anti-diabetic drug can boost the immune system and increase the potency of vaccines and cancer treatments. Their findings will be published June 3 in the journal Nature.
The discovery was made by Dr. Russell Jones, an assistant professor at McGill's Goodman Cancer Centre and the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Yongwon Choi, PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, and postdoctoral fellow Erika Pearce, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania. They discovered that the widely prescribed diabetes treatment metformin increases the efficiency of the immune system's T-cells, which in turn makes cancer and virus-fighting vaccines more effective.
Effects of perioperative cimetidine administration on peripheral blood lymphocytes and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in patients with gastrointestinal cancer: results of a randomized controlled clinical trial.
Li Y, Yang GL, Yuan HY, Bai DJ, Wang K, Lin CR, Hu MB, Feng MH.
Hepatogastroenterology. 2005 Mar-Apr;52(62):504-8.
PMID: 15816467
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