Description

Dr. Shimon Slavin, a Science Advisory Board member of the Repair Stem Cell Institute, and stem cell pioneer, had this study published in Lancet Oncology 2001.

Following conventional chemotherapy, cancer metastases become resistant to subsequent treatment and then, progression of cancer is unavoidable.

Alternative treatment of cancer may be provided by using the immune system to fight off disease. Because the immune system of the patient is unlikely to eliminate a large number of cancer cells when tumor progresses since it was unable to recognize even few cells that started the disease, immune system cells obtained from another donor can effectively react or even eliminate cancer by “rejecting” such cells being recognized as foreign.
Treatment of cancer with foreign (allogeneic) lymphocytes is based on the fact that cancer cells are consistently rejected when inoculated to a mismatched host, thus suggesting that lymphocytes from such a donor may do the same once transferred into the cancer patient.
Short-term circulation of donor lymphocytes may be effective against minimal residual disease whereas overt disease may require durable engraftment of donor lymphocytes, a process that requires transplantation of stem cells from the donor of the lymphocytes.