For decades, Cancer has remained as one of the biggest challenges for medical practitioners across the globe. In the last few years, immune checkpoint inhibitors have brought a surge in the field of oncology advancements. Unfortunately, the majority of cancer patients fail to achieve positive responses and additional strategies for cancer treatment are still warranted. In this context, dendritic cell therapy that involves the dendritic cells to activate the adaptive and innate immune system shows a promising result.
Table Of Contents
Feel free to skip ahead if one topic catches your eye:
- What is Dendritic Cell Therapy?
- Science behind Dendritic Cell Therapy
- Procedure of Creating Dendritic Cell Vaccine
- How to Prepare for your Medical Tour to India?
- Why Choose India for Dendritic Cell Therapy?
- What is the cost of Dendritic Cell Therapy in India?
Takeaway
- What is Dendritic Cell Therapy?
Dendritic Cells are antigen-presenting cells that are essential to activate the adaptive immune system. These cells are spread throughout the human body, and are responsible for constantly monitoring their surroundings for danger signals and antigens. These cells undergo maturation and start migrating to lymphoid organs once stimulated by a stimulus. They activate different immune system’s effector cells, primarily B-cells and T-cells once they reach the lymphoid organs.
Through this process, Dendritic Cells are critical for immunosurveillance that signifies the important role played by the immune system in detecting and eliminating both cancer cells and pathogens. However, immunosurveillance generally fails as the development of malignancy in its early stages in an indolent process. When the immunosurveillance process fails, one of the biggest challenges for cancer cell outgrowth is omitted. Dendritic Cell Therapy aims to correct this failure by stimulating a reverse of the immune system’s ignorance to malignant cells. To achieve this, Dendritic Cells are loaded with tumour-specific antigen(s) and stimulated ex vivo with danger signals for activating specific T-cells that eliminate antigen-bearing cancer cells selectively.
Dendritic Cell Therapy can be used to treat different types of cancers such as:
- Breast cancer
- Intestinal cancer
- Uterine cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Melanoma
- Sarcoma
- Glioblastoma
- Pancreatic cancer
- Colorectal cancer
- Renal cancer
- Liver cancer
- Oesophageal cancer
- Mesothelioma
- Renal cancer
- Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
- Acute myeloid leukaemia
- Bladder cancer
- Cervical cancer
- Colon cancer
- Gastric cancer
- Head and neck cancer
- Endometrial cancer
- Hodgkin lymphoma
- Ovarian cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Retinoblastoma
- Stomach cancer
- Small intestine cancer
- Skin cancer (melanoma)
- Skin cancer (non-melanoma)
- Salivary gland cancer
- Small cell lung cancer
According to research, Dendritic Cell Therapy can improve cancer cell destruction by 60 percent, reduce relapse risk by 70 percent, and improve resistance to cancer therapy by as much as 60 percent.
- Science behind Dendritic Cell Therapy
The approach of Dendritic Cell Therapy to cancer therapy reaps the potential and advantages of the routine activity and mechanism of the dendritic cells as immune educators that are naturally present in the bloodstream of every individual. The primary function of dendritic cells is to identify a foreign substance such as cancerous cells and process them. These cells initiate an immune response by bringing foreign substances to the attention of the remaining part of the immune system (primarily T lymphocyte cells).
In response to this, the activated immune system then empowers the T-lymphocytes to circulate throughout the patient’s body and inhibit the foreign substances. However, the immune system of patients who are diagnosed with cancer usually fails. Cancerous tumours affect the differentiation and maturation of the dendritic cells to induce a generalised failure of the host to stimulate a powerful anti-tumour response.
During the Dendritic Cell Therapy, the count of dendritic cells is artificially increased and these cells are then transfused systematically to target the cancerous cells (antigens) for exerting a powerful anti-tumour response.
Dendritic Cell Therapy is recommended by oncologists and medical professionals along with a course of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or different immune therapies so that the combined effects of many drugs dramatically increase the efficiency of treatment options by twice or thrice for treating some types of cancers. Dendritic cells are the primary components of the Dendritic Cell Vaccination.
Precursor cells are extracted from the blood of the patients. Dendritic cells that are found in skin, blood, and mucous membranes are considered to be one of the most common protective agents. These cells are among the first ones for activating a defensive reaction if a pathogenic agent (a virus, a bacteria, or a cancer cell) appears in the body. By doing this, dendritic cells can safeguard the patient’s body in different ways. Firstly, these cells activate the immune system of the body by attracting other protective cells to the source of the cancer infection. Secondly, dendritic cells absorb the pathogenic agent to guide the body to identify and attack cells posing a threat to the patient’s general and overall health. By doing this, it triggers an immune process using which the human body can fully recover back on its own.
- Procedure of Creating Dendritic Cell Vaccine
Dendritic cell vaccinations are produced using some basic principles. Naturally-circulating dendritic cells or monocytes are segregated from autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells that are acquired by apheresis. It is important to remember here that ex vivo differentiation into dendritic cells is needed in case of monocytes. Both monocyte-derived dendritic cells and naturally-circulating dendritic cells are matured as this is important for effective activation of T-cells. Maturation is linked to morphological and functional changes in dendritic cells.
Dendritic cells demonstrated enhanced expression of co-stimulatory molecules, increased ability of cytokine production following maturation, and enhanced expression of major histocompatibility complexes I and II. During the process of vaccine manufacturing, dendritic cells are powered with relevant tumour antigen(s) for inducing a tumour-specific immune response. Different methods to load dendritic cells with antigen exist as with the other critical steps in the process of manufacturing dendritic cell vaccinations. Dendritic cell vaccinations are administered to patients after quality control.
During the dendritic cell vaccination process, the doctor extracts some cancer tissue and a blood sample from the patient. Immature precursor cells are selected from the patient’s blood and grown in the laboratory with the help of special procedures. Once this has been completed, the formed dendritic cells are placed by the doctor in the same environment as cancerous tissues. The vaccine becomes ready within two to three weeks after the patient’s blood was collected.
- How to Prepare for your Medical Tour to India?
It is important for you to have a word with Medinirvana, one of the leading medical tourism companies in India, to explore a hassle-free medical journey.
Medinirvana can even help you with complete arrangements related to documentation such as:
- Hospital letter
- Scanned copies of your passport
- Scanned copies of your Visa and the validity page (and how long you intend to stay in India)
- Proof of residential address
- Proof of required funds
- Applicant photographs
- Recommendation from the home country doctor to visit a particular specialised medical centre for treatment
- Medical documents of the treatments undergone already
- A no-objection certificate signed by both parents is required for patients under the age of 18 years
- Passport and Visa copies of the attendant and the proof of relation with the attendant
- Details about the place of accommodation in India
Before you leave your resident country for India, it is important for you to prepare your body and mind for cancer treatment. It is also important for you to have a clear and complete understanding about the entire procedure and the pros and cons of the treatment options so that you can be assured of making an informed decision always. Patients should have a detailed word with the surgeon and the hospital experts to ensure compassionate care and the best of cancer treatment after reaching India for medical tourism.
- Why Choose India for Dendritic Cell Therapy?
One of the biggest reasons for choosing India as your medical tourism destination for Dendritic Cell Therapy is that the country takes great pride with some of the most trusted and successful cancer hospitals in the world. Moreover, the country’s hospitals offer state-of-the-art treatment options and teams of specialised doctors and best nurses on their payrolls. In addition to this, you can always be assured of 24/7/365 guidance and treatment by skilled and experienced urologists, oncologists, or radiation oncologists.
Furthermore, India offers quick medical visas so that you don’t have to wait endlessly to arrange for your cancer treatment. In this regard, Medinirvana can guide you with all formalities so that your medical trip to India is hassle-free and rewarding. The greatest advantage associated with visiting India for your cancer treatment is that the country offers treatment options at almost negligible costs when compared with treatment costs in developed or western countries like the United States, Canada, Germany, UAE, and the United Kingdom.
- What is the cost of Dendritic Cell Therapy in India?
The cost of Dendritic Cell Therapy in India is approximately INR 13,50,000-20,00,000 though it may vary from country to country and hospital to hospital. The cost of Dendritic Cell Therapy in India depends on many factors such as the type of procedure performed, medications, the general and overall health of the patient, the success rate of the hospital, the expertise and qualifications of the surgeon, etc.
If you want to access the best Dendritic Cell Therapy, you should select India as your preferred medical tourism destination option.
Takeaway
If you are looking for the best Dendritic Cell Therapy, you should seek assistance from Medinirvana that is considered by one of the most reputed and trusted providers of medical tourism services so that patients and their families don’t have to ever worry about making different kinds of arrangements. This helps them save a lot of money, time, and other resources and concentrate in packing their bags to reach India and get treated by some of the world’s most respected and successful Dendritic Cell Therapy specialists and cancer hospitals.
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