Published on August 7, 2020
Mr. Raktim Chattopadhyay, Founder & CEO, Esperer Onco Nutrition (EON)
The link between the immune system and cancer has been widely appreciated for over a century and was first highlighted by Rudolph Virchow over 150 years ago . The underlying basis for this relationship between cancer and immunity involves three basic principles of how the immune system acts to defend and protect an individual: it detects nonself antigens from pathogens or infected/malignant cells; it encompasses effector functions to specifically target and destroy the pathogen or infected/malignant cells while protecting the host, and it develops immunological memory via the adaptive immune responses for subsequent defence mechanisms following an injury or an attack against the host . Through this process, the immune system has acquired characteristics that give rise to the paradigm known as immunoediting, which provides a balance between immune surveillance and cancer progression in the realm of oncology.In the rapidly evolving field of immune-oncology, understanding the tumor-specific immune response enhances understanding of cancer resistance.
Most cancer patients know that chemotherapy weakens their immune systems, putting them at risk for viral and bacterial infections. A month or two after chemo ends, most people think their immune system has returned to normal. Research suggests that the effects of chemotherapy can compromise part of the immune system for up to nine months after treatment, leaving patients vulnerable to infections especially with certain type of chemotherapy treatment regimen.
So, cancer and cancer treatments can affect the immune system and other body systems in different ways. People with cancer might be more likely to get infections because of:
Cancer treatments can interfere with the way the immune system works. The damage can be short- or long-term. For example, if a person with cancer has their spleen removed due to cancer, this causes long-term damage because the spleen is part of the immune system. On the other hand, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy, either alone or in combination can lead to short-term (temporary) immune system damage because they affect immune system blood cells for a fairly short period of time. Abone marrow or stem cell transplant uses very high-dose treatments to kill cancer cells that also damageimmune system cells for weeks to months.
Keeping the above in mind cancer patients must consider the following as per international guidelines:
Dont ignore minor symptoms. If you are feeling unwell, get to your doctor and get it checked out right away. What may be a minor issue could turn into something bigger.
Talk to your health care provider to make sure youre up to date on all of your vaccines. Many cancer patients after treatment should be able to receive many vaccines, including flu and pneumonia vaccines.
Exercise and eat healthfully. Those things never hurt immune response or your recovery.
If you smoke, try to quit.
If someone in your family or in your care has cancer, make sure youre up to date on vaccines and preventive care. The last thing you want to do is develop an infection that doesnt allow you to care for them or puts them at risk.
Since patients are most at risk right after theyve received chemo. Its really important to protect your family members when theyre at the highest risk for major infectious complications.
Supporting the immune system while battling cancer is imperative and one of the factors that aid in the healing process from the aftermath of the treatment therapy. Protective effects can be observed while balancing dietary and lifestyle needs, however, these alone do not promise an immunity boost. The immune system works as powerful weapon against disease, but it is a known fact that with cancer, immunity is at high risk where healthy cells are attacked causing a variety of side effects.
Cancer patients are at a natural high risk of malnutrition as chemotherapies, radiations and surgeries can lead to loss of appetite, stress, fatigue, anxiety making it difficult to eat with a high appetite loss. This leads to a significant reduced response in cancer treatment, increases risk of survival. Cancer cells replicate by division to replace old cells and multiply thus some damaged cells might migrate to other tissues causing tumour growth. The longer, cancer continues to grow the lesser possibilities are available for the immune system to recognize damaged cells and destroy them.
Vitamins, foods, minerals are recommended by doctors but a key concern to examine is are these long term & sustainable to ensure quality life for patients?
A need for preparing the body for heavy dose of cancer treatment at the time of diagnosis, during treatment and post procedure is important for long term risk benefits. All 3 phases are different and require nutritional care basis the cell biology of the body. Health supplements of the correct formulation with technology backed research can be an optimum solution. The supplements can bring about efficacy in the main therapy of cancer disease management and improve overall quality of life.
Time has come to focus on optimal physical and psycho-social well-being of the patient in cancer therapy. The treatment of a lethal and supposedly incurable disease like cancer takes a toll on people emotionally, financially and physically. The right approach for organizations to help mitigate the risks of cancer though various methods would be to have an all-inclusive outlook catering to all of the above effects. The goal should be to help and support the end user with a view of futuristic need for living a fulfilling life even after being cured, while focusing on every aspect of oncology. A certain kind of after care is always mandatory during & post treatment which could be complex and costly. Anticancer products is the future, which will have to align parallel in such a way so the therapy protocol can be made affordable to the receivers.
See more here:
Post chemotherapy may leave patients vulnerable to infections - APN News
- Seattle researchers find clues for treatments that could eliminate HIV in infected patients - GeekWire - January 14th, 2021
- Flow Cytometry Market is Projected to Reach a Value of US$8100 Mn by the End of 2025 - KSU | The Sentinel Newspaper - January 14th, 2021
- Doctors diagnosed a Suffolk teen with a rare condition. Now, his mom is part of the solution - 13newsnow.com WVEC - January 12th, 2021
- Cassville club assists 2 families as they recover from illness - telegraphherald.com - January 12th, 2021
- The 26 billion-dollar startups to watch that are revolutionizing healthcare in 2021 - Business Insider - January 12th, 2021
- Global Precision Medicine Market 2020 Overview By Size, Share, Trends, Growth Factors and Leading Players With Detailed Analysis of Industry Structure... - January 12th, 2021
- More than 250 articles and a book later, the Valley Doctor bids adieu - San Lorenzo Valley Press-Banner - January 12th, 2021
- Groundbreaking Treatment for Severe COVID-19 Using Stem Cells It's Like Smart Bomb Technology in the Lung - SciTechDaily - January 5th, 2021
- New combo therapy offered against refractory T-cell lymphoma - Korea Biomedical Review - January 5th, 2021
- Hair Growth Treatment Secrets Bollywood Will Never Tell You About - Times of India - January 5th, 2021
- Are metabolic hormones the next frontier in cancer treatment? - MedCity News - January 5th, 2021
- Limerick toddler to wait six months for trial cancer treatment after family raises over 400,000 - Extra.ie - January 5th, 2021
- West Lothian mum fighting for her life after back pain turned out to be terminal blood cancer - Edinburgh Live - January 5th, 2021
- MorphoSys and Incyte Announce the Acceptance of the Swissmedic Marketing Authorization Application for Tafasitamab - Yahoo Finance UK - January 5th, 2021
- A Wish Come True urges plungers to dump a bucket of ice water on themselves for this year's fundraiser - Fall River Herald News - December 26th, 2020
- Ashley Cain says over 80,000 people registered for stem cell donation in 48 hours after appeal to save baby - The Sun - December 22nd, 2020
- The 11 most mind-blowing, awe-inspiring health discoveries and innovations of 2020 - Business Insider - Business Insider - December 22nd, 2020
- 3-year-old patient successfully treated for rare fatal disease- familial Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) at Fortis Hospital Shalimar Bagh -... - December 22nd, 2020
- Startups are racing to reproduce breast milk in the lab - MIT Technology Review - December 22nd, 2020
- Hand weakness: Causes, symptoms, treatment, and seeking help - Medical News Today - December 22nd, 2020
- Gujarat Issues Health Advisory On Fungal Infection With "50% Mortality Rate" - NDTV - December 22nd, 2020
- A side-by-side comparison of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines - STAT - December 22nd, 2020
- City of Hope Doctors Present Innovative Therapies to Better Treat Blood Cancers at American Society of Hematology Virtual Conference - Business Wire - December 9th, 2020
- Medical technologies that will disrupt (and improve) healthcare in the 2020s - Universe.byu.edu - December 9th, 2020
- Community Cord Blood Banking saves life of child with aplastic anaemia - The Hindu - November 20th, 2020
- Arya Lloyd: Father launches global search for blood stem cell donor to save his 12-year-old daughter - Sky News - November 20th, 2020
- Blood Cancer: Science Reveal Five Easily Missed Signs of Leukemia - Science Times - November 20th, 2020
- Karnataka:Community cord blood banking emerges as lifesaver - United News of India - November 18th, 2020
- How CAR-T Cell Therapy is Being Used in the Field of Blood Cancer Treatment - Curetoday.com - November 16th, 2020
- Election results for California Propositions 14, 18, 23, and 24 - FOX 11 Los Angeles - November 16th, 2020
- Cell Separation Beads Market to Witness Robust Expansion Throughout the Forecast Period 2018-2028 - The Daily Philadelphian - November 16th, 2020
- Fight for the rights of unborn - The Daily Telegram - November 11th, 2020
- Genetic Mechanism Identified in Neonatal Diabetes Could Offer Insights into Other Forms of the Disease - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News - November 11th, 2020
- Doctors Debate: Is Intensive or Low-Intensity Chemotherapy Plus BCR-ABL TKI Therapy Best for Treatment of Ph+ ALL? - Targeted Oncology - November 11th, 2020
- Record number of stem cell donors apply after Ex On The Beach star plea - expressandstar.com - November 11th, 2020
- Bisbee: A commitment to health care initiatives The Journal Record - Journal Record - November 11th, 2020
- California election results: Where state propositions stand as of Thursday at 5 p.m. - Desert Sun - November 11th, 2020
- Critically ill Indonesian woman thanks Taiwan for saving life - Taiwan News - November 7th, 2020
- City of Hope Doctors Present New Research on Bone Marrow Transplants, Immunotherapy and Other Blood Cancer Treatments - Business Wire - November 7th, 2020
- Daily Edition for Wednesday, November 4, 2020 - California Healthline - November 7th, 2020
- 'We're truly blood brothers' - Stanford coach David Shaw and his recent fight to save his brother, Eric - ESPN - November 7th, 2020
- 'We're really blood brothers' - Stanford coach David Shaw and his current battle to save lots of his brother, Eric - The Shepherd of the Hills Gazette - November 7th, 2020
- Mark Drought: Are we on the brink of another civil war? - The Advocate - November 7th, 2020
- What to eat when you have the flu, recommended by doctors - Business Insider India - October 30th, 2020
- Fine-Tuning Treatments for COVID-19 - American Council on Science and Health - October 30th, 2020
- Aborted girl fetus kidneys made Trumps CoV meds. As SARS2 is unfettered in America, this needs thought - Feminine-Perspective Magazine (FPMag) - October 30th, 2020
- What to Know in Washington: Provisional Ballots May Play Role - Bloomberg Government - October 30th, 2020
- Unless the country invests in cancer care, the statistics for breast cancer will be bleak: Dr Anthony Pais, .. - ETHealthworld.com - October 23rd, 2020
- Autologous Fat Grafting Market Scope Analysis 2019 to 2029 - The Think Curiouser - October 23rd, 2020
- How Clinique La Prairie Is Keeping Humanity Fashionably Healthy In The Age Of Covid - Forbes - October 23rd, 2020
- The Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry - The Hippocratic Post - October 21st, 2020
- Jeff Bridges is one of the 85,000-plus lymphoma cases expected in the U.S. this year - MarketWatch - October 21st, 2020
- YOUR HEALTH: Saving an unborn baby breaking apart in the womb - WQAD.com - October 21st, 2020
- Orgenesis completes acquisition of Koligo Therapeutics and announces additional acquisition of Icellator(R) Technology from Tissue Genesis in related... - October 21st, 2020
- SA becomes 2nd country to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to donate bone marrow - News24 - October 21st, 2020
- Stem Cell Therapy Market to Witness Steady Expansion During 2025 KYT24 - KYT24 - October 21st, 2020
- Mohammed Hussain Alqahtani shares his insights about the evolution of plastic surgery - LA Progressive - October 21st, 2020
- Manya Saaraswat Makes Top 5 Finish in 2020 Miss World America Competition, Three Other Indian Americans in Top 10 - India West - October 21st, 2020
- Banking wisdom: Teen saving stem cells in hopes of future treatment - LubbockOnline.com - October 15th, 2020
- Mohammed Hussain Alqahtani Discusses the Future of Plastic Surgery - The Jerusalem Post - October 15th, 2020
- The story of how a biotech co. came to the aid of an ill 9-year-old boy - Stockhouse - October 15th, 2020
- Where Amy Coney Barrett Stands on IVF - Glamour - October 15th, 2020
- Regeneron, Trump, and the alleged hypocrisy of the pro-life movement - Christian Post - October 15th, 2020
- Life Sciences - a year to remember - Lexology - October 15th, 2020
- Proposition 14: With Handful of Cures, Calif. Stem Cell Agency Has Mixed Record. Will Voters Pony Up Another $5.5 Billion? - KQED - October 8th, 2020
- Woman who lost her partner to cancer last year set to run 10K in his memory - Warrington Guardian - October 8th, 2020
- Different Types of Childhood Cancer | INTEGRIS - Integris - October 3rd, 2020
- A perfect match: Bone marrow transplant saves twin brother's life. Now their family pays it forward - 11Alive.com WXIA - October 3rd, 2020
- Baby whose nosebleeds turned out to be deadly condition saved by stranger - Mirror Online - October 3rd, 2020
- Over 40 lakh people in Telangana have developed COVID-19 antibodies: Health Minister Eatala - The New Indian Express - October 3rd, 2020
- Coming of Age: New Research Efforts are Improving Treatment of Childhood Blood Cancers - Curetoday.com - September 23rd, 2020
- World Rose Day 2020: History and significance of the welfare of cancer patients - Hindustan Times - September 23rd, 2020
- Guide to Voting on Propositions and the City of San Bernardino's Measure S - Black Voice News - September 23rd, 2020
- Blood Cancer Awareness Month 2020 - Everyday Health - September 23rd, 2020
- CARLTON FLETCHER: McConnell is the poster boy for sleazy, partisan politics - The Albany Herald - September 23rd, 2020
- Faith for the fight: Neosho teen deals with rare combination of illnesses - Joplin Globe - September 21st, 2020
- RCSI partnership aims to advance predictive tests for common blood cancer - Siliconrepublic.com - September 21st, 2020
- Odessa woman hopes to gain back her sight after 6 years of being blind - NewsWest9.com - September 19th, 2020
- The Holistic Sanctuary Announces Exciting Plans to Expand Over Next 4 Years and Save More Lives - thepress.net - September 19th, 2020
- Highland family from Alness pleads for potential donors to come forward to help ill toddler - Inverness Courier - September 19th, 2020