Corel Medical Series: Cancer/Corel Medical Series: Cancer.iso/mac/Program/c25.dxr/00095_Field_SRC.c25.A.18.txt

Text File | 1997-01-28 | 2KB | 19 lines

Investigational  Several new treatment methods have shown some promise in treating melanoma.
• Highly specific antibodies engineered in the test tube (monoclonal antibodies) to act against surface
  components of melanoma cells are being evaluated. Antibodies by themselves have not been too effective, but
  when used as carriers for killer molecules—radioactive isotopes, strong chemotherapeutic drugs, enzymes or
  toxins—good effects have been achieved in animals. Trials in humans have already shown that antibodies have
  "homed" to the tumor and can show its location accurately on radioisotope scanning ( see Biological Therapy ).
• There are 12 interleukins , several of which are now being tested on humans. Other combinations include
  interferons and interleukins together or in sequence.
• High-dose chemotherapy , with single drugs or in combinations, followed by autologous bone marrow
  transfusion, has had too many dangerous side effects associated with the drugs in current trials and too short a
  duration of response. The general approach, however, is very promising. Even now the rate of response is in
  the order of 60 percent.
• Several groups, including one at the National Cancer Institute , have begun investigating immunotherapy with
  tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) or cloned killer and helper T cells. This form of "adoptive"
  immunotherapy involves removing blood cells from the patient, stimulating and multiplying them, then
  returning them, usually with IL-2 . Insertion of genes for cytokines, such as IL-2, TNF or GM-CSF, into
  irradiated tumor cells (for vaccines) or T cells (for adoptive immunotherapy) is being tried to make vaccines
  more effective or to increase the number and lifespan of the transferred T cells in the body. This "gene