The internationally recognized specialists at the OSUCCC – James are transforming the way cancers are prevented, detected, treated and, yes, cured. Today, cancer is no longer solely defined by location or even by stage. We know there is no routine cancer, and when it comes to treating cancer, immunotherapy is the next frontier — and available right now at The James.
Our experts believe the best way to treat patients and manage their disease successfully is to deliver the latest, most effective treatments available. Because these specialists understand that cancer is complex, they use the most effective means of care to design the very best treatment plan — targeting each patient’s specific cancer — and offering improved outcomes, faster responses and fewer side effects.
By using immunotherapy, James experts are able to harness a patient’s immune system, expanding and unleashing it to fight back against cancer. Through innovative therapies such as CAR-T cell therapy, immunotherapies are now sometimes serving as a first-line treatment in many cases — often offering an effective, less harsh treatment plan than chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, would like a second opinion or would like to speak with a cancer specialist about immunotherapy options, please call The James Line at 800-293-5066 or 614-293-5066 to make an appointment. Specialized cell therapy coordinators are also available to answer questions at 614-688-7868.
How It Works
Immunotherapy uses a patient’s own immune system to treat and attack cancer cells.
In a healthy body, the immune system protects that body from disease-causing viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. Research and medical evidence strongly suggest that the immune system also plays a vital role in eliminating precancerous and cancerous cells from the body.
Gene changes, cell changes or other molecular changes in the body can cause cancer cells to grow, mutate, form tumors or survive. Changes also help cancer cells avoid detection, hiding them from the immune system so that they can’t be attacked.
But by developing treatments that the immune system can use to block these cancer cells’ ability to hide, the immune cells can then be freed and boosted to fight tumors by identifying and attacking cancer cells.
There is no such thing as a routine cancer, and every person’s disease is different, with individually unique genes and molecules driving that disorder. At the OSUCCC – James, our cancer specialists are world-renowned experts who reach across medical disciplines to design the very best diagnostics, personalized treatment plan and therapies for each patient.
Types of Immunotherapy
The OSUCCC – James world-renowned cancer experts use many different types of immunotherapy to treat cancer. These can include:
- CAR-T Cell Therapy, which genetically improves a patient’s white blood cells and then uses them to kill cancer cells.
- Cytokine Therapy, which uses the body’s naturally occurring hormone-like protein molecules to bolster immune responses.
- Monoclonal Antibodies, which are drugs designed to attach to specific cell-targets in the body and create an immune response that destroys cancer cells.
- Adoptive Cell Transfer, which bolsters the ability of T cells to combat cancer by removing them from a patient’s tumor, then isolating or altering the cells that are most active against cancer. CAR-T cell therapy is an example of adoptive cell transfer treatment.
- Vaccines, which are designed to stimulate the body’s immune system to produce antibodies against specific antigens on a cancer cell.
- Drug Therapy, which uses drugs developed to block mechanisms that enable cancer cells to hide from the immune system. Nivolumab, for example, blocks a certain receptor on T cells, freeing them to attack cancer cells.
Remember, there’s no such thing as a routine cancer, and every person’s disease is different, with individually unique genes and molecules driving that disorder. At the OSUCCC – James, our cancer specialists are world-renowned experts who reach across medical disciplines to design the very best diagnostics, personalized treatment plan and therapies for each patient.
How Immunotherapy Is Given
Immunotherapy can be given intravenously (injected into a vein), orally (pill or capsule) or topically (a cream rubbed onto the skin).
How often immunotherapy is given depends on several factors, such as the type and stage of cancer, the patient’s specific genetic makeup, the type of immunotherapy recommended for a patient and the body’s reaction to the therapy recommended.
Side effects may include:
- Skin reactions
- Fever or chills
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Headache
- Sinus congestion
- Diarrhea
- Risk of infection
- In rare cases, severe allergic reactions
The OSUCCC – James cancer specialists and subspecialists closely monitor people receiving immunotherapy through tests, exams and scans that can help determine if the therapy is working and the effect it is having on you.
There's even a newly established Immunotherapy Management Clinic, staffed with autoimmune-disease experts, to help mitigate these side effects and ease any discomfort caused by them.
Clinical Trials
The OSUCCC – James offers access to the nation’s most advanced, sophisticated cancer clinical trials. In fact, as a National Cancer Institute (NCI)–designated comprehensive cancer center, the OSUCCC – James offers patients access to novel therapies that may not be available anywhere else in the United States. That means that when additional treatment options are needed, patients can find that unparalleled level of expertise and access right here at The James.
Immunotherapy clinical trials are currently underway at The James in the following areas:
- Bladder
- Brain
- Breast
- Cervical
- Colorectal
- Esophageal
- Head and Neck
- Kidney
- Leukemia
- Liver
- Lung
- Lymphoma
- Melanoma
- Multiple Myeloma
- Ovarian
- Pancreatic
- Prostate
- Sarcoma
The James is one of only a few U.S. cancer centers funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to conduct phase I and phase II clinical trials. These trials go only to centers that demonstrate an exemplary capacity for research and clinical care, the expertise to deliver the latest in treatments and the infrastructure to interpret and track treatment results.
Additionally, Ohio State has more than 300 cancer researchers dedicated to understanding what makes each patient’s cancer grow, move, spread or reoccur. Because of the OSUCCC – James’ NCI phase I and phase II approvals, these experts can move research discoveries into clinical trials and make them available to patients sooner.
There is no such thing as a routine cancer, and every person’s disease is different, with individually unique genes and molecules driving that disorder. At the OSUCCC – James, our cancer specialists are world-renowned experts who reach across medical disciplines to design the very best diagnostics, personalized treatment plan and therapies for each patient
Referral and Appointments
The OSUCCC – James medical experts include world-renowned cancer specialists, subspecialists and super subspecialists in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment.
To make an appointment (or as a provider, refer a patient), please call The James Line at 614-293-5066 or 800-293-5066.
Specialized cell therapy coordinators are also available to answer questions at 614-688-7868.
The James Cancer-Free World Podcast
Dr. Carbone is the director of The James Thoracic Center and is a lung cancer specialist. He’s also an expert on a new and very exciting cancer treatment: immunotherapy. Immunotherapy helps the body’s immune system recognize, attack and kill cancer cells and is a big step forward in creating a cancer-free world.