Researchers work on alternative therapy to boost immune system of patients with lung cancer

National Institute of Respiratory DiseasesJan 7 2014

Looking to strengthen the patient's immune system to fortify treatment.

Research from the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER) informs that besides smoking, there are other factors associated to the development of lung cancer such as the smoke from burning lumber and coal, as well as pollutant particles.

"It has been considered that the upturn in cases of lung cancer is possibly related to this particles", explains Patricia Gorocica from the INER, who, alongside her research team, has been working in an alternative therapy to boost the immune system of patients with this disease.

The specialist adds that since several years ago is known that the immune system has all the mechanism to watch and destroy tumor cells as they develop, but sometimes this mechanisms are not effective for reasons associated to the tumor or alterations of the patients organism.

Based in this principle, research at INER is directed to regulate the immune system against tumors. The tumor that can be more easily eliminated are the ones that express specific antigens.

Patricia Gorocica, chief of the Department of Biochemical Research at INER, details that with current technology is possible to manipulate the immune response against tumors.
"We are developing at the lab a system of cell activation from the patient's own blood so it can eliminate its tumors".

This is a starting research, but it could be consolidated as an alternative therapy for the patients with lung cancer. The labor is being done with the support of the institutes of Biotechnology and Chemistry of the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), hoping that others will add to the cause, since this research requires a multi-disciplinary team for succeeding.

Gorocica adds that manipulating the immune system could be a new complementary therapy to chemo and radiotherapy usually used for treating lung cancer.

The research at INER is mainly focused in patients with lung adenocarcinoma, a type of cancer that has the most alterations in its tumor cells. It usually affects people of various ages, accentuated in people over 40, but has been known to affect the 20-something population.