Radioimmunotherapy
A new innovative cancer treatment called Radioimmunotherapy or RIT joins conventional radiation therapy with immunotherapy. RIT uses monoclonal antibodies to target specific cancer cells and minimize damage to surrounding cells and tissue. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are laboratory made immune proteins engineered to attach to antigens of specific cells. These antibodies mimic antibodies naturally produced as part of the immune system. Originally MAbs were made completely from mice cells and when these were introduced into the human body, the immune system would react against them. This decreased the success rate of the treatment and many times the immune system would destroy the MAbs even before treatment could be provided. As studies progressed, researchers were able to replace mouse MAbs with a mixture of human and mouse cells called chimeric antibodies. Continued studies have now led to humanized antibodies. Humanized antibodies consist of fragments of human antibodies instead of whole ones. Researchers also found that by using smaller fragments that there was a greater chance for the antibodies to reach the targeted cells. Once the engineered MAbs have been made, radioisotopes are attached through a process called labeling.
Iodine 131 (I131) and Yttrium 90 (Y90) are the most common radioisotopes used in RIT. These isotopes both emit beta particles through beta decay. Beta emission cause DNA strand breaks, therefore killing tumor cells.
Iodine 131 decays with a half-life of 8 days with beta and gamma emissions. The nuclide of iodine has 78 neutrons in the nucleus. The most stable of iodine is I127 which has 74 neutrons. On decaying I131 converts to XE131. The emission of gamma radiat...
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Mr. John R. Gunn, a former Executive Vice President and Chief Officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center give credit
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...atment is safe because radio-iodine is able to deliver a sufficient amount of radiation to the thyroid allowing to slow the hormone production, and only deliver a small amount to the body. The radiation delivered to the body is far from harmful and is only equivalent to the amount of radiation delivered from two routine diagnostic X-Ray procedures such as a gastrointestinal series ("Educational Material"). The form of treatment has been used for 35 years and over one million patients in the United States have been assisted through the treatment of radioactive iodine ablation. Most physicians will rely on this treatment and recommend 90 percent of their over active thyroid patients to receive the radioactive iodine ("Educational Material"). The treatment, till this day, is known to continuously alleviate the majority of symptoms hyperthyroidism patients have today.
Cancer.gov. (2014). Comprehensive Cancer Information - National Cancer Institute. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.cancer.gov/ [Accessed: 7 Apr 2014].
When I began my research, I figured, what better way to start digging in than to hear what a professional has to say. So I contacted Dr. Diana Port, Pharm.D., a Pharmacist in Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, New Jersey. I asked her to tell me the first thing that came to her mind when I told her the following two words: ‘Creativity’ and ‘Medicine’. Barely finishing my sentence, she answered me with one, Gleevec. She explained to me that in 2001, the FDA approved of a cancer-fighting drug, which would later be called Gleevec for the treatment of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). When the drug first came out, people were literally calling it names like “The Silver Bullet” or “The Miracle Drug” because of how amazing it was (Pray).
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...gens are exogenous (outside the cell) and will be presented to helper T cells to initiate an immune response. This can trigger cytotoxic T cells to kill cancer cells with the same antigen – often HPV viral proteins in cervical cancer. T cells may not be activated to their full potential – recall that the inhibitory receptor CTLA-4 on T cells sends a stronger signal than CD28, the activating receptor. Ipilimumab is added to treatment for this reason. It will work in conjunction with the released antigens, activating the T cells that can respond to the antigens and create an immune response against the cancer cells (LACC article). Adding ipilimumab to the chemo/radiation treatment would enhance the immune system’s ability to respond to the antigen released by the treatment. This is the first time a treatment like this has been suggested for cervical cancer (LACC).
“The half-life of a radioisotope is the time required for half the atoms in a given sample to undergo radioactive decay; for any particular radioisotope, the half-life is independent of the initial amount of...
Web. The Web. The Web. 1 Apr 2011. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150999.php>.
In 1938, iodine-131 and cobalt-60 isotopes were discovered by J. Livingood and G. Seaborg. 2
This is the first reaction in the Harcourt Essen experiment. The iodine is oxidised to produce I2 wh...
Ed. David Zieve. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. The Web.