Lung #cancer therapy is ’milestone’
▻http://www.bbc.com/news/health-32936877
#Nivolumab stops cancerous cells hiding from the body’s own defences, leaving the cancer vulnerable to attack.
The results from 582 people, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, were described as “giving real hope to patients”.
Lung cancer is the most deadly type of cancer, killing nearly 1.6 million people every year.
It is hard to treat as it is often diagnosed late and many people with smoking-related diseases are unsuitable for surgery.
Your immune system is trained to fight infection, but it also attacks parts of the body if they malfunction - such as in cancers.
However, tumours have a few tricks up their sleeve in order to survive.
They can produce a protein called #PD-L1 which switches off any part of the immune system that tries to attack them.
Nivolumab is one of a suite of drugs called “checkpoint inhibitors” being developed by pharmaceutical companies.
They stop cancers turning off the immune system so the body can keep on attacking the tumour.
traitement des cancers du poumon non à petites cellules
▻http://www.fondation-arc.org/Actualites/cancer-du-poumon-le-nouveau-succes-du-nivolumab.html
Le mode d’action de l’#anticorps_anti_PD-1 se base sur la réactivation de la réponse immunitaire contre la tumeur. Son usage fait donc appel aux mécanismes de défense naturels de l’organisme, qui sont potentiellement réactifs dès les premiers stades du développement tumoral. Un autre essai clinique est d’ailleurs actuellement en cours pour évaluer l’effet du nivolumab lorsqu’il est employé plus tôt, dès la première ligne de traitement.