is it true the immune system is supposed to fight cancer?

Then why can't stage 3 anaplastic oligodendroglioma brain cancer be cured with things that boost the immune system? Why does it cost so much for all the proven products?  Any realistic suggestions would help. 

 We are approaching one year left before the Drs. say the brain cancer will come back, and my son has a condition that causes his brain to ooze blood in dozens of places deep in his brain when the brain is irritated.   It is called deep cavernous malformation.  The cause of it was not when he was born but what the Drs. had to do to save his life in an experimental bone marrow transplant and the treatment between age 5 and 12 for ALL Leukemia as his body was growing.  (41-34 years ago).   

The treatment today for ALL Leukemia is not as radical as it was when my son was 5-12.  The bone marrow transplant for my son was concidered experimental back then. 99% parents of children refused it and let their children die because the chance of survival was 30%.  It has changed quite a bit for the better through the years, which makes me glad for people lucky enough to undergo the transplant today. 

Jan

 

 

Hi, Jan. I am certainly no doctor and may have no clue with my understanding of this but here is how I understand immune response in cancer patients (specifically brain tumors). I believe that tumor cells are actually normal brain cells (astrocytes, olingodendrocytes, etc) that are mutant in that they begin to replicate uncontollably...leading to the tumor.... Since they are recognized by the immune system as part of the body, there is no immune response (as there would be with an infectious disease). I think one of the most promising lines of research at the moment is vaccine therapy that seeks (again this is how I understand it at least) to somehow change the cells' DNA or otherwise mark the cells so that the immune system can then recognize them as foreign and help in their destruction.

Actually the immune system gets rid of millions upon billions of bad cells everyday that are cancerous, or potentially cancerous. Cancer is caused by many many different gene mutations that happen because of aging, exposure to chemicals, smoke, alcohol, tar etc etc etc. . They are our own cells, but with fundamental differences. They no longer know how to die, they can metastasize, create blood vessels, and have a hyper state - they no longer have a resting phase. The immune system can no longer fight them. There are certain cancers like melanoma, that do go into spontaneous remission, and one of the main treatments for melanoma is meant to try to push the immune system into overdrive to fight the melanoma.

Boosting the immune system is complex. Many supplements make the claimthat they are immmune system boosters, but immune system health is likely tied to a number of factors- adequate nutrition, especially in childhood when the immune system learns its job, exercise, body weight, adequate vitamin D, sleep, limited exposure to toxins and heredity. Freedom from stress, loneliness, grief, and the presence of love, and caring, adequate social interaction have also been shown to affect the immune system and resistance to disease.

Much of the current research being done on treating brain cancer involves using the immune system. There are the vaccines we're all so interested in, and several studies that involve introducing modified viruses directly into the brain tumor. But boosting the immune system alone isn't going to do it. The immune system has already failed to prevent the cancer.

Interestingarticle I read shows that people who suffer allergies get brain much lessthanthose. Something to do with an activeimmunesystem

 

Hux

 

Yup; the allergies thing has been found in more than one study. Reduces incidence of GBM by something like a third. Didn't work in my sister's case, alas. She's got allergies and GBM.

I wanted to ask how many people on this forum do have allergies.  I have read the same articles which infer that people with allergies are less likely to have cancer.  My husband does not have allergies.  Some people have them in childhood and then outgrow them while others don't develop allergies until their 20's.  I wonder if having them from childhood gives more protection as opposed to someone getting them in their 20's.

I've never heard the allergies thing. My husband has GBM and hasn't suffered from allergies. His mother also had GBM and she DID have allergies. My husband is taking lots of Vitamin D3, as it has proven to prevent or slow tumor growth. We did the typical chemo/radiation, but if the tumor returns we will definitely look into immunotherapy - it does seem to be the direction that cancer treatment is heading. Good luck to you!

here's the link

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120803094429.ht

few years ealrier  4 or 3 my mom developed allergy but later GBM came as well.