Immunotherapies

Immunotherapies include vaccine therapy (i.e. autologous vaccines - vaccines made from the patient) or a treatment that includes an immune cytokine. These treatments typically attempt to stimulate an immune response in the patient's body to fight the cancer. Several of these approaches have been tried in treating mesothelioma.

Glossary

Autologous Vaccine is created when proteins from the patient's tumor cells are made into a vaccine that is designed to cause the patient's body to make antibodies against the tumor.

Immune Cytokine is a protein that is used by various white blood cells to communicate with each other. For example, some cytokines are used to promote inflammation near an infection.

Immune Response is how the body recognizes and defends itself against bacteria, viruses, and substances that appear foreign and harmful.

Immune System is made up of a network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect the body. The cells that are part of this defense system are white blood cells or leukocytes. There are two basic types of leukocytes: (1) the phagocytes that consume invading organisms such as bacteria (the most common type is the neutrophil); (2) the lymphocytes that allow the body to remember and recognize previous invaders. There are two kinds of lymphocytes: B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes.

Results of Immunotherapies Administered to Mesothelioma Patients

Important Note : These are summaries of results of clinical trials that have been made available by Cancer Monthly: The Source for Cancer Treatment Results. The source data are the clinical results reported in the medical literature. To learn more about these treatments click on the icon under "More Information." This will open a new window that will contain the study's abstract. Print out the abstract and share it with your doctor. Your doctor can help you determine if a particular treatment is right for you. For more information about toxicity grades see below. For more treatment results for mesothelioma and many other cancers visit Cancer Monthly.

Treatment Description	Median Survival Rate	Side-Effects	More Information
17 patients were involved. The treatment consisted of a type of immunotherapy - administration of intrapleurally infused autologous human activated macrophages (a type of blood cell) followed by intrapleural injection of gamma-interferon (a type of protein). After completion of this therapy, ten patients were treated with chemotherapy (primarily cisplatin (platinol) and mitomycin (mitozytrex)).	The median survival of all treated patients was 29.2 months.	Toxicities included grade 2 or 3 thoracic pain after injection, fever, and alkaline phosphatases.	Article
22 patients were involved. The treatment consisted of the intrapleural administration of interleukin-2. (Interleukin-2 is a cytokine or immune system messenger which encourages the proliferation of CD4 cells.)	The overall median survival time was 18 months.	Grade 3 toxicities included cardiovascular, weight gain, sepsis, and cutaneous.	Article
31 patients were involved. The treatment consisted of the injection of human recombinant Interleukin-2 (Proleukin)	Median overall survival was 15 months.	Grade 3 toxicities included cardiac failure and fever. Grade 2 toxicities included neuropathy, neurologic, and gastrointestinal.	Article
37 patients were involved. The treatment consisted of the chemotherapy drugs cisplatin (platinol) and doxorubicin (adriamycin) with alpha-2b interferon.	The median survival was 9.3 months.	Grade 4 toxicities included hematologic and renal.	Article
29 patients were involved. The treatment consisted of the administration of human recombinant Interleukin-2.	Overall median survival was 9 months from the date of first treatment.	Toxicities included fever (grade 2), cutaneous toxicity, nausea and vomiting (grade 1), and chest pains.	Article

Toxicity Grades

Toxicities (or side-effects) are generally graded from one to five. The higher the number, the more toxic were the side-effects from the treatment. There are a number of different toxicity scales (i.e. National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria version 2.0, World Health Organization) and they are all similar in respect to their grades and definitions. The scale is generally:

1 = Mild side-effects
2 = Moderate side-effects
3 = Severe side-effects
4 = Life Threatening or Disabling side-effects
5 = Fatal

What is included in the table above are the highest grades for one or more toxicities reported for one or more patients. This means that even if only one patient had one example of a grade 4 toxicity and every other patient had grade 2, the grade for that treatment will be reported as a 4