Immunology centre director highlights
agency AIN web site
He highlighted the
development of this procedure for the treatment of malignant tumours with
manipulation of the immune system, which is
He also mentioned that
interferons are another form of immunotherapy for certain types of cancer, as
in renal tumours and melanoma (in the skin), which are already registered.
Immunotherapy will have an
increasing role in the treatment of cancer in the current century, meaning in
curing patients or in most cases in an extension of survival with a good
quality of life, a fundamental objective for this type of illness.
Treatments to the immune
system are part of the patient's complex therapy - which includes surgery,
radiotherapy, [and] cytostatic [agents] - and they play a role in the
therapeutic arsenal for malignant tumours, the expert added.
Dr Lage mentioned that at
the moment monoclonal antibodies (AcM) are in clinical tests, with one of these
registered in
He also made a reference to
cancer vaccines, eight of which are being researched in the country,
four of them are undergoing clinical trials.
He pointed out that one of
the preventive vaccines or prophylaxes in
There are about 40 cancer
vaccines under research in the world, mainly in highly developed countries such
as the
The Molecular Immunology
Centre currently has a monoclonal antibody to treat organ transplant rejections,
as well as recombinant erythropoietin [Spanish: "eritropolletina
recombinante"], which is
Source: AIN news agency,