Cancer Treatment Today

Antibodies to infliximab (ATIs) have been associated with loss of clinical response and lower serum infliximab (IFX) levels in some studies of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Lower drug levels can mean less effect ont eh disease.  It is clinically useful to be able to  assess and predict diminishing response. A recent meta-analysis concluded that the presence of ATIs is associated with a significantly higher risk of loss of clinical

Guillain-Barr syndrome is a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. The onset can be very rapid or take few days to few weeks. Symptoms are weakness or tingling sensations in the legs. Sometimes, the weakness and abnormal sensations spread to the arms and upper body and progress to paralysis. There is no known cure for Guillain-Barr syndrome, but therapies can lessen the severity of the illness and

Histiocytosis is a rare  disease that involves cells called hystiocytes. The disease can range from limited involvement that spontaneously goes away to progressive multiorgan involvement that can be chronic and debilitating. In some cases, the disease can be life-threatening. It is approximated that histiocytosis affects 1 in 200,000 children born each year in the United States. The disease us rare and not much is known securely about how to treat

BMS-936558 is an antibody against PD-1, a protein involved in repressing the immune system. It activates the immune system and enables it to fight tumors. A well established approved drug, Yervoy blocks CTLA-4, another inhibitory protein expressed on immune cells and Yervoy and BMS-936558 belong to the same class of drugs. Both generate an anti-cancer immune response. This very promising agent is in several trials for various diagnoses. For example,

It has gradually become clear that insight is involved in the cancer growth and regulation. Insulin Growth Factor Receptor(IGFR) is important in this process. IGF-IR blockaded by IMC-A12 results in rapid and profound growth inhibition of cancers of the breast, lung, colon, and pancreas, and many other cancers. Although promising single-agent activity has been observed, the most impressive effects of targeting the IGF-IR with IMC-A12 have been noted

A now well established approach to cancer immunotherapy is using antibodies that are directed against substance (antigen) on a cancer cell surface. A monoclonal antibody is a molecule that attaches to the cancer cell and causes changes within it or in immune cells around it, or it can carry a toxin or a radioactive material to the cancer cell. A fully human monoclonal antibody directed against the human cell surface receptor PD-1 (programmed death-1

Natural killer (NK) cells are major actors of innate immune responses against viruses, bacteria, parasites, and other mediators of pathology such as malignant transformation. These cells are also directly implicated in the link between innate and adaptive immunity, shaping T-cell responses. It is now obvious that manipulation of this lymphocyte subset could be the basis of new therapeutic approaches for cancer and/or pathogen-driven pathology. There

Natural killer (NK) cells, a type of T lymphocyte cell, are major actors of the body’s immune responses against viruses, bacteria, parasites, and other mediators of pathology such as malignant transformation. These cells are also directly implicated in the link between by preexistent body’s own and adaptive, newly developed immunity, shaping T-cell responses. It is now obvious that manipulation of this lymphocyte subset could be the basis of

Chronic myeloproliferative disorders (CMPD) are classified according to the WHO classification of 2001 as polycythemia vera (PV), chronic idiopathic myelofibrosis (CIMF), essential thrombocythemia (ET), CMPD/unclassifiable (CMPD-U), chronic neutrophilic leukemia, and chronic eosinophilic leukemia (CEL)/hypereosinophilic syndrome, all to be delineated as different from another member of the group, BCR/ABL-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). This