Immunotherapy and

SC Fatalities from immunotherapy and skin testing. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1987 79 666-677. 

Since the late 1940s, when Farber treated leukemia with methotrexate, cancer therapy with cytotoxic drugs made enormous progress. Chemotherapy is usually integrated with other treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, and it is clear that postsurgery, it is effective with solid tumors. This is due to the fact that only systemic therapy can attack micrometastases. 

P. Niederhafner, M. Reims, J. Sebestik, and J. Jezek, Glycopeptide dendrimers, Part III—A review Use of glycopeptide dendrimers in immunotherapy and diagnosis of cancer and viral diseases, J. Pept. Sci., 14 (2008) 556-587. 

The most widely studied therapeutic proteins produced in plants include monoclonal antibodies for passive immunotherapy and antigens for use as oral vaccines [40]. Antibodies against dental caries, rheumatoid arthritis, cholera, E. coli diarrhea, malaria, certain cancers, Norwalk virus, HIV, rhinovirus, influenza, hepatitis B virus and herpes simplex virus have been produced in transgenic plants. However, the anti-Streptococcus mutans secretory antibody for the prevention of dental caries is the only plant-derived antibody currently in Phase II clinical trials [40]. Until recently, most antibodies were expressed in tobacco, potato, alfalfa, soybean, rice and wheat [9], It has been estimated that for every 170 tons of harvested tobacco, 100 tons represents harvested leaves. A single hectare could thus yield 50 kg of secretory IgA [3, 41]. Furthermore, it has been estimated that the cost of antibody production in plants is half that in transgenic animals and 20 times lower than in mammalian cell cul-... 

Akdis CA, Akdis M, Blesken T, Wymann D, Alkan SS, Muller U, et al Epitope specific T-cell tolerance to phospholipase A2 in bee venom immunotherapy and recovery by IL-2 and IL-15 in vitro. J Clin Invest 1996 98 1676-1683. 

While on the one hand the aspects of Tregs and tolerance induction in allergen-specific immunotherapy and different procedures of vaccination are described, one chapter is added which describes future possibilities of stem cell transplantation in genetically linked disorders. 

Treatment of cancer includes surgical intervention, radiation, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy using neoplastic drugs. Chemotherapy is currently used in addition to surgical intervention in order to remove possible metastatic cells that still remain. Moreover, some types of tumors are currently treated first with chemotherapeutic agents. 

Transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder is diagnosed in approx 50,000 individuals in the United States each year, and accounts for 10,000 deaths annually. A majority of patients will present with nonmuscle-invasive disease, be treated adequately with transurethral resection (TURBT) with or without intravesical chemotherapy or immunotherapy, and will have only a 10-15% risk (higher for higher grades) of developing muscle-invasive disease. In contradistinction, the natural history of muscle-invasive disease is much more aggressive, with a 5-yr survival of only 50%. 

Expanded hematopoietic (stem and progenitor) cells have widespread potential in therapy and this will only be briefly described here. For a comprehensive overview, the review by Schindhelm and Nordon [27] is recommended. Potential applications include graft engineering in stem cell transplantation [24], gene and immunotherapy and the production of mature blood cells for transfusion medicine. 

Radiation therapy constitutes, together with surgery and chemotherapy, one of the three traditional and recognized methods of cancer treatment. In addition, novel approaches, such as immunotherapy and gene therapy, are developing and appear to be promising. 

Last but not the least, the progress in gene therapy, immunotherapy, and other approaehes based on novel moleeular biology teehniques has to be kept in mind as well. 

Use of Endotoxin in Cancer Immunotherapy and Characterization of Its Nontoxic but Active Lipid A Components... 

Schumacher MJ, Pain MC Intranasal immunotherapy and polymerized grass pollen allergens. Allergy 1982 37 241-248. 

Passalacqua G, Senna G, DamaA, Riccio A, CrivellaroM, CanonicaGW The relationship between clinical efficacy of specific immunotherapy and semm intercellular adhesion molecule-1 levels. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 1998 8 123-124. 

Safety of Allergen-Specific Sublingual Immunotherapy and Nasal Immunotherapy... 

New therapies offer new chances, but also carry new risks. The risks include unknown efficacy and unknown side effects, whereas the chances include higher efficacy, lower side effects or easier applicability. The patient should be informed in detail about possible benefits, problems and open questions of different alternative therapies, and should be involved in the decision. Even such steps increase compliance and thereby success. An acceptable ethical aspect for the consideration of a therapy may be the mean state or severity of a disease, which is necessary to convince a patient of the need for such a therapy. This level might be lower for noninvasive immunotherapies than for invasive immunotherapies, and an earlier initiation of any kind of immunotherapy seems to lead to greater success. This hypothesis has yet to be proved by clinical investigations in allergy. 

Passalacqua G, Fumagalli F, Guerra L, Canonica GW Safety of allergen-specific sublingual immunotherapy and nasal immunotherapy. Chem Immunol Allergy. Basel, Kaiger, 2003, vol 82, pp 109-118. 

Tahara, H. and Lotze, M.T. (1995) Antitumor effects of interleukin-12 (IL-12) applications for the immunotherapy and gene therapy of cancer. Gene Then, 2, 96-106. 

Ciprandi, G., Fenoglio, D., Cirillo, I., Milanese, M., and Minuti, P. 2006. Sublingual immunotherapy and regulatory T cells. Allergy 61 511. 

Burks, W., Bannon, G., and Lehrer, S.B. 2001. Classic specific immunotherapy and new perspectives in specific immunotherapy for food allergy. Allergy 56(Suppl. 67) 121-124. 

Poliak Y, Yirmiya R (2002) Cytokine-induced changes in mood and behaviour Implications for depression due to a general medical condition , immunotherapy and antidepressive treatment. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 5 389-399. 

In the therapeutic arena, antibodies have also been used for immunotherapy and radioimmunotherapy. Immunotherapy itself is essentally targeted drug therapy where specific antibody may activate complement, attract inflammatory cells, and/or induce production of cytokines, or as in the case of Herceptin inhibit cell... 

Certain aspects of this statute must be highlighted for their innovative nature, both as national files whose contents impose the highest scientific exactness and as multi-state files which make it possible to apply for the introduction of drugs in the respective markets, in several Community countries. Mention must be made, too, of the inclusion of rules in respect to drugs derived from human sera and blood, and, further, of immunotherapy and radiotherapy drugs. 

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