Cutting-edge cancer research

Depriving tumors of oxygen is one way to reduce their size. Swiss stomach cancer scientists at the UniversitätsSpital Zürich are trying the opposite. After normalizing a tumor's blood vessels with an ITPP molecule, they then flood it with oxygen. The process amplifies the effects of chemotherapy and other radiation and builds on successful US experiments with mice.

One unusual approach uses lemons to halt the spread of liver cancer. Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum are using the fruit's aromatic terpene compounds as a "key" to open up cancerous carcinoma cells. The open floodgates cause calcium levels to spike and halts the cells' ability to spread.

But it's the field of immunotherapy where the research is most exciting. Immunotherapy kickstarts the immune system into attacking cancerous growths. The problem: Our immune systems consider as "safe" roughly 99.9 percent of cancer proteins. Thus, researchers must teach it to turn on those proteins, but without overdoing it and causing an auto-immune response.

One method: Vaccines. "The aim is to activate the immune system to specifically recognize mutated [brain tumor] proteins," says Prof. Dr. med. Michael Platten of the University of Heidelberg's brain clinic. Platten's T-cell studies have reduced or eliminated tumors in mice with human-like immune systems. He and his colleagues will begin a Phase I trial with 39 patients this year.

Another tantalizing immunotherapy involves antibodies. Prof. Dr. Helmut Salih and his colleagues at the University of Tübingen used their own antibody treatment on seven patients. Generally, antibodies work by "blocking" good cells from being infected by cancer cells. Though early results showed cancer cells disappearing before quickly returning...

…one case stands out. Above is Dr. Salih's "favorite graph," showing leukemic cells vanishing from a 59-year-old French-national's body. Salih still receives postcards from the patient's grateful wife. Further trials are on hold, however, until the Tübingen team obtains regulatory approval for their drug production process.

Or take 27-year-old Georgios. When lymph nodes in his neck became swollen, he went to a doctor, assuming flu. It was stage-four lung cancer. One blessing: Stage-four status qualified him for a Phase-I trial. He is now cancer free, a cauliflower-sized tumor gone. The immunotherapy remains a secret, as it's in conjunction with a pharmaceutical firm. But he told DW he much preferred it to chemo.

Experimental immuno-therapy is often the last hope for terminally ill cancer patients. The novel drugs and procedures are attempted only when traditional therapies have failed - often repeatedly. Doctors and patients can contact the German "Cancer Information Service" (Krebsinformationsdienst) to connect with researchers testing the efficacy of experimental drugs.