Targeted immune activation

Restoring immune function

All healthy individuals continuously produce cancer cells throughout their lives. These cells occur on an ongoing basis and because they develop from within the body, they are referred to as autologous. Malignant cells result from the effects of mutations and viruses and exposure to carcinogens ranging from radiation or, tobacco smoke, to pesticides, and food colorings and preservatives, just to mention a few.
It is the primary task of the cellular immune system to detect these cancer cells early and destroy them. When cancer occurs, the immune response is suppressed, or there has been an excessive exposure to a carcinogen. Impaired immune function often involves a drop in the number and/or the function of immune cells available to effectively detect or kill cancer cells.

Combating cancer

Certain antigen-presenting cells are essential for mounting an effective immune response against neoplastic transformation. These cells migrate through peripheral tissues, performing immunosurveillance by detecting aberrant or transformed cells. They are also capable of identifying cells under oncogenic stress, such as those chronically infected with oncogenic viruses (e.g., persistent HPV infection in cervical epithelium, which carries malignant potential).
Upon recognition of a potentially malignant or transformed cell, the antigen-presenting cell migrates to a regional lymph node, where it displays the antigenic signature of the target cell to lymphocytes, initiating an adaptive immune response aimed at its elimination.