Our immune system protects us throughout life – usually against infection, but also against our own cells, should they become ill or act abnormally.
It is known that the immune system can eliminate cancer cells! Two types of cells are particularly important, the Cytotoxic T cells (CTL) and Natural Killer (NK) cells.
Cytovac’s ALECSAT treatment is an immunotherapy and together with the most efficient weapon – namely the body’s own unique defense system – it is used to treat the disease.
The ALECSAT treatments is specifically designed for the individual patient and contains only the patient’s own activated cells.
Problem: Cancer patients have a suppressed immune system and lack these cells to fight the cancer.
Solution: Provide patients with NK cells and Cytotoxic T cells that are produced and activated ex-vivo.
Owing to the unique technology, developed by Cytovac, it is feasible to isolate, activate and grow selected cells from the patient’s own immune system. These activated cells will then be returned by injection to the same cancer patient.
When these cells are reinjected into the cancer patient, some of the cells will specifically attack the cancer cells, and other cells in the ALECSAT product will help to restore the patient’s immune system.
This may enable the immune system to win the battle against cancer.
What is ALECSAT?
ALECSAT therapy supplements and strengthens the patient’s immune system so it may fight the cancer cells in the same way as the body originally should have done. Since Cytovac only applies the patient’s own cells, this treatment is gentle and with only very few side effects.
ALECSAT therapy attacks the cancer cells in several ways as the cells recognize more than one property of the cancer cells. Hence, should the cancer cells change or should there be several different cancer cell types, all of them could be subject to attack and destruction by the cells used in the ALECSAT therapy.
Cancer cells exert inhibition on the immune system cells, but the ALECSAT cells are manufactured in production laboratories – away from the inhibiting effect of the cancer cells. Thus, ALECSAT products can also be manufactured for patients with immune systems that have been suppressed by the cancer.
Active fighting cells
The ALECSAT therapy will provide the patient with millions of active fighting cells, that can attack the cancer cells in the body; this may stop tumor growth and shrink the tumor. In addition, the most recent results from clinical trials performed by Cytovac indicate that the ALECSAT therapy may reactivate existing, but suppressed, immune system cells in the patient’s body; and, hence, these cells may also become active in the fight against the cancer cells.
Together these mechanisms may give the immune systems the possibility to win the fight against the cancer cells, and potentially stop or eliminate the cancer disease completely
Moreover, the ALECSAT therapy may also protect the patient against disease relapse. Because the product used in the ALECSAT therapy also contains ‘memory cells’, cells that may persist in the body and be prepared should new cancer cells develop, and such ´memory cells´ may effectively enter into the defense against new cancer cells.
Procedure of the therapy
A small sample of the patient’s blood will be taken for the Cytovac ALECSAT treatment procedure. Specific cells from the blood will then be isolated to be activated, reinforced and multiplied. Next, the cells will be returned to the patient where they will assume a position as activated fighting cells, targeting cancer cells anywhere in the body.
After a start-up treatment phase with 3 injections, single treatments are repeated at 3-4 months’ intervals in an out-patient clinic. Each treatment consists of a patient’s donation of a blood sample and subsequently 20 days later, the patient is treated with an injection of ALECSAT cells. These treatments will continue till control of the disease is achieved or – at best – there are no traces left of the cancer.
There are indications that ALECSAT will reactivate existing, but suppressed, immune system cells in the patient’s body; and then these cells may also become active in the fight against cancer cells.
Who can be treated?
Currently, patients can only be treated with ALECSAT in clinical trials at hospitals conducting our trials, whereas manufacturing of the ALECSAT product takes place at Cytovac’s dedicated production laboratories.
Only the patient’s doctor can refer patients to ALECSAT treatments. The company cannot provide treatments outside our clinical programs.
Advantages of ALECSAT
- ALECSAT is manufactured on the basis of a blood sample from the patient, and the therapy does not require any foreign substances, genetic modification or tissue samples.
- ALECSAT cells will both kill cancer cells and also boost the patients’ immune system.
- ALECSAT is an extremely gentle cancer treatment with very few side effects.
- The manufacturing method is well established and approved by the authorities.
- Clinical results are very promising.
- The therapy appears to be efficacious and independent of the patients’ own, often suppressed, immune systems.
- The technology can be applied in the treatment of most cancer types and may be given in combination with established treatment methods.
- ALECSAT will be applicable in combination with most other therapeutic methods, including other new immunotherapies.