A woman jumps for joy on a beach and the word Hope is in orange in the right hand corner.

Our understanding of cancer is growing exponentially each year, and each year we have new forms of treatments and diagnoses. One of the most promising new life-saving advancements in cancer care is Immunotherapy, which is a way to use your body’s own immune system to eliminate your cancer. Sound too good to be true?

Check out Issue 2 of the CTOAM newsletter to see the top life-saving advancements in cancer! Or, read more below.

Do you want to have life-saving information delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for our monthly newsletter!

See how Immunotherapy has helped cancer patients like you:

→ Joan’s story (melanoma) – Joan is now cancer free!
→ Julio’s story (carcinoma) – Julio is now cancer free!
→ Damian’s story (colon cancer)
→ Betty’s story (colon cancer)
→ Mark’s story (colon cancer)

Top Life-Saving Advancements in Cancer: Immunotherapy

IMMUNOTHERAPY | Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

The American Society of Clinical Oncology voted Immunotherapy as its top overall clinical advancement for both 2016 and 2017. So what, exactly, is it?

Immunotherapy uses the body’s own immune system to treat cancer. The body’s immune system uses a “series checkpoints” to determine if cells are normal or a threat. Some forms of cancer bond with proteins similar to normal cells, which acts like a cloaking shield for the immune system. Immunotherapy medication inhibits the cancer cells from bonding with those proteins, effectively deactivating the cloaking shield, and allowing the body’s own immune system to kill the cancer cells. The American Cancer Society has declared that Immunotherapies “have already become an important part of the treatment for many cancers.”

A graphic rendering of a close-up turquoise DNA in front of red and turquoise cancer cells.

How is Immunotherapy Life-Saving?

As a type of targeted treatment, Immunotherapy allows the body’s own immune system to find the cells with mutated gene(s), which leads to higher survival rates with fewer and less severe side effects.

However, not all cancers use this “cloaking” mechanism for hiding from the immune system, so performing a special test will let us know if immunotherapy will work. This means patients don’t get treatments they don’t need and time is not wasted on treatments that are not right for the patient.

Find out if Immunotherapy is right for you →
Register for a Precision Second Opinion Today!

Success with Immunotherapy | Damian’s Story with Colon Cancer

Damian, 54, sought us out after his doctor recommended getting a second opinion from our cancer experts. To help Damian, CTOAM used a combination of advanced diagnostic tools like PET/CT, tumour DNA sequencing, liquid biopsy for treatment monitoring, and the newest targeted treatments, including Immunotherapy. Using this unique Precision Oncology process, CTOAM has been able to help Damian turn his cancer into a manageable condition. He’s able to continue living a happy, high quality life, thanks to the latest advancements in cancer treatment.
Happy man at beach with family in background.

Success with Immunotherapy | Joan’s Story with Stage IV Melanoma

Joan, 45, reached out to CTOAM when she was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma. Her public oncologist told her there was nothing more they could do for her. But she and her husband had been researching on their own and knew better. So they called our cancer experts to help them access the right targeted treatments for her unique genetic mutations. After being one of the first cancer patients in Canada to be treated with immunotherapy, Joan has now been completely cancer-free for several years now!

Clinical Trials: How They Can Help You!

Are clinical trials right for you?

When you think of clinical trials do you imagine yourself taking some risky drug that could give you a third eye? Or are you worried that you would get a placebo and be worse off? You’re not alone, there are many myths and misconceptions around clinical trials. In reality, they can give you early access to new life-saving treatments, and CTOAM can help you access them.

Discover how we can help you to live longer, with a better quality of life: Register for Precision Second Opinion with our medical team, today!
CTOAM Cancer Care Consultants
Science and Support For All Things Cancer

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Published by on June 1, 2018