IMMUNOTHERAPY

I have written about this subject in the past and would like to share a little more information for your consideration.

In 1908, a Russian biologist, Ilya Illyich Mechnikov, won the Nobel Prize for his work on Phagocytosis, which means “the body’s active response to a foreign body like bacteria or ……. you guessed it……cancer.”

Classic cancer treatments have involved the identification of specific organs as part of the immune system like your spleen, kidneys, lymph nodes, and so on. But that could only go so far because what you’re talking about is the relationship between various bodily systems and pathogens. 

Thanks to new discoveries and research, doctors now understand that many parts of the immune system don’t belong to any specific organ. Rather, they flow through or are part of our tissue.

Treatments based on bodily systems, such as chemotherapy and the like, are often as toxic as the cancers that they were targeting. But immunotherapy is already approved for various types of cancer, including prostate, kidney, lung and melanoma to name a few. In addition, there are treatments in the pipeline for leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma just around the corner.

In summary, over a century ago, one of the smartest scientists on earth, realized that your immune system has the ability to fight off bacteria. 

To your health!

Jim

Image credit: 
Wellcome Images
http://catalogue.wellcomelibrary.org/record=b1161516