Vietnam has a different approach to cancer treatment immunity

Prof. Dr. Ta Thanh Van, Vice Rector of Hanoi Medical University, the first Vietnamese student of Prof. Honjo, and his colleagues at Hanoi Medical University to apply the self-treatment immune therapy therapy In early 2017 , according to the same mechanism with the invention enhances the role of the immune system but with other approaches.

Vietnam has a different approach

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine has just been awarded to two scientists to study a new cancer treatment, activating the body's immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells. The author of this work is two prestigious scientists, Prof. Tasuku Honjo (76 years old, Kyoto University, Japan) - who discovered PD1 and GS James P. Allison (70 years old, University of Texas, USA) - people discovered CTLA4.

Students of Prof. Tasuku Honjo - Prof. Dr. Ta Thanh Van, Vice Rector of Hanoi Medical University said that there are many methods of cancer treatment from surgery to radiotherapy, chemicals and target treatment. In the past 10 years, there has been more immunotherapy with the principle of strengthening the immune system of your body with endogenous and exogenous agents.

With this therapy, the patient's immune cells are isolated, multiplied and differentiated outside the body after reaching a large number, which is transmitted back to the patient's body. Professor Honjo discovered the PD-1 receptor, Professor Allison discovered CLTA-4 receptor. When exposed to immune cells, cancer cells inactivate the two receptors, making immune cells unrecognizable to cancer cells.

Thanks to the invention of two professors, the pharmaceutical industry produced antibodies against two receptors PD-1 and CLTA-4 , helping immune cells recognize cancer cells to destroy the target. Currently, this method has been adopted by the world.

In Vietnam, Prof. Thanh Van said, Hanoi Medical University scientists based on the principle of Nobel Prize-winning works to enhance the function of the immune system in the patient's body but in a slightly different approach. , through isolating immune cells, proliferating and activating outside the body and returning it to the patient.

From 10-30ml of peripheral blood, the scientists will separate several million immune cells, then multiply and differentiate several billion cells and then pass it on to the patient, creating enough immune cell barrier. Strong and specific to destroy cancer cells.

Accordingly, each of these courses was performed six times in three months, each time two weeks apart. Currently, at the research laboratory of Hanoi Medical University, only 6-8 patients can be performed for one course.

Patients improved markedly on clinical symptoms

Currently this topic has been approved by the Ministry of Health and has been clinically tested for nearly two years over 75 patients suffering from five common cancers: lung, liver, breast, stomach and colorectal at stage 3b and 4.

According to Professor Ta Thanh Van, after more than two years of implementation at Hanoi Medical University, immune cell therapy in cancer treatment has been applied to patients in cancer forms: kidney, lungs, liver, stomach, colon and breast, helping cancer patients to improve remarkably on clinical symptoms such as eating, better sleep, less pain, improved physical condition, improved quality of life high, have not recorded side effects.

'Some patients respond very well, there are cases on the living boundary - death but now is healthy. However, the research team is continuing to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of this method , 'Professor Van said.

According to the results of treatment in Japan, when applying this therapy, about 60% of patients improved clinical symptoms, 3% of patients in stage 3b and 4 with metastatic tumors did not develop or disappear.

Prof. Ta Thanh Van noted that immune cell therapy is a supportive treatment, used in combination with other traditional treatments. In the early stages, traditional methods such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy or target treatment are still preferred.

Currently, there are hundreds of patients waiting to apply this method, however, Professor Van said, it will take more than a year to finish the clinical trial. After that, the research team will report to the Medical Council and Professional Council of the Ministry of Health, from which to consider, whether the decision is widely applied or not.