BACKGROUD
During the last more than 10 years there has been a rapidly increasing understanding of immunosurveillance and appreciation of the mechanisms by which tumors escape its notice. This has led to the development of promising new strategies against cancer, i.e. immunotherapy, which is focus on increase of immunity function against cancer cells, and has had the most exciting and consistently successful results.
"Immunotherapy may be one of the only ways left to deal with cancer. We have gone as far as we can with chemotherapy," an oncologist, Herman Kattlove, chief editor of the American Cancer Society, says. "With few new drugs coming out, he says, "chemotherapy is sort of a dead area...". "What convinced me is that we saw responses," says, Dr. Ronald Levy of Stanford University, (immunotherapy is) new weapon in cancer war." (See The Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2003)
Fuda Cancer Hospital has got great achievement in the field of cryosurgery for cancer, is a leading medical organization on the world, and its the success has been affirmed by many specialists, including International Society of Cryosurgery. Cryosurgery, as a local therapy of tumor, become a characteristic of this hospital.
Since 1991, there were thousands patients with advanced and/or transferred cancers received a Combined immunotherapy for cancer (CIC), as an important part of general therapies. The result showed that CIC can significantly prolong life of the patients, arrest or reduce recurrence. More than 50% patients of advanced cancers are able to be living for 10 to 15 years without adverse side effects or complications.
Fuda Cancer Hospital is the first to initiate CIC. CIC with cryosurgery have been systematically established as a special treatment model in Fuda only for large number of patients with cancer from all over the World.
CONCEPT
Malignant tumors were not developed in a healthy body with intact defense, repair and regulatory functions. Chronically and severely immunosuppressed individuals exhibit an increased incidence of malignant neoplasms. The recuperation of immunological function of patient with cancer can result in a "dormancy "status of the cancer in order that the patient with cancer may be living for a long time.
Cancer presents in a specific internal environment which promotes its growth.This environment develops due to multiple causes and conditions which vary from an individual to others. These causes usually remain chronically active even after removal of the tumor by surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy. Therefore, there is a high percentage of recurrence. Treating the tumor alone is not treating the condition that is producing it, the underlying cancer disease. Consequently, there is a high rate of relapse.
The immune system has the potential ability to eliminate neoplastic cells. Eliciting an effective anti-cancer response and removal of malignant cells are a key of successful treatment of advanced cancers and prevention of recurrence after operation or ablation for cancer.