If there is cancer in the body, can urine tell us first? Gross hematuria cannot be ignored!

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma exhibits high heterogeneity, with diverse biological characteristics and gene expressions among individual cancer cells within the tumor population. Although the design of tumor vaccines initially relies on the patient's own tumor tissue, it is difficult to encompass all types of cancer cell variations. When cancer cells metastasize and enter new environments such as the lungs and brain, they further adapt and undergo new changes, developing mechanisms such as immune evasion, which render the originally targeted tumor vaccines partially ineffective.

The preparation process of autologous dendritic cell (DC) tumor vaccine requires extremely high complexity and precision. Any slight deviation in any step may affect the quality of the vaccine. From tumor tissue collection, cell isolation, culture to the final preparation of the vaccine, numerous steps are involved. Poor laboratory condition control and insufficient proficiency of technical personnel may lead to reduced vaccine activity, weakened immunogenicity, and ultimately failure to exert the expected anti-cancer effect.

Intervention of vNKT cell immunotherapy

             

             

# vNKT cell immunotherapy        

Natural killer T (NKT) cells, a special T-cell subset with both T-cell receptor (TCR) and NK cell receptors on its surface, combine the important characteristics of NK cells and T cells, possessing the dual ability to recognize tumor cells nonspecifically and specifically, and can rapidly kill tumor cells. Among the NKT cell subsets, there is a larger and more potent special type of soldier discovered by the experimental team led by Professor Zhang Minghui of Tsinghua University, namely the variant natural killer T (vNKT) cells.

The population of vNKT cells in the body is very small and they are not easily activated. However, once activated, they can effectively eliminate tumor cells that may remain undetected in the body. Additionally, research has found that vNKT cells exhibit dual anti-tumor effects. Not only can they directly kill cancer cells, but they can also regulate the immune microenvironment within tumor tissues, kill inhibitory immune cells such as MDSCs, break down tumor immune evasion, rebuild the normal immune system, and further prevent recurrence and metastasis.

Experimental conditions: In the presence of vNKT cells, after 16 hours, nearly all B16 tumor cells were killed!

02

               

               

Imaging 

changes  changes

       

       

The pulmonary imaging findings have witnessed the remarkable effectiveness of vNKT treatment. By the follow-up examination in July 2023, the soft tissue nodular shadow in the right upper lobe had shrunk compared to before; the lesion area of the right lower lobe with increased density and mass-like appearance had significantly shrunk, showing a cord-like change. No new tumor lesions or metastasis were observed. This indicates that vNKT cell immunotherapy has achieved remarkable results in controlling tumor recurrence and metastasis.          

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Changes in tumor markers 

Tumor markers                

       

Mr. Chen regularly monitored tumor markers (CEA) during the treatment process. The follow-up results from July 2020 to July 2023 showed that the tumor markers remained within the normal range. This result not only indicates that the patient's condition is stable but also further verifies the effectiveness of the treatment.        

    

vNKT cell immunotherapy has demonstrated significant effectiveness in controlling tumor growth and plays a crucial role in the recovery of the patient's immune system. Compared to the immune damage that may be caused by traditional chemotherapy and radiotherapy, vNKT cell therapy exhibits significant advantages in inhibiting tumor recurrence and metastasis by enhancing the patient's immune function.        

04            

             

       

Conclusion and Review< H427>

Conclusion and Commentary            

Mr. Chen's experience has made us deeply realize that the road to fighting cancer is by no means smooth. Single treatment methods may have limitations. Continuously exploring and optimizing innovative therapies like vNKT treatment, and flexibly combining and applying multiple treatment methods according to individual patient conditions, is the key to conquering kidney cancer and even various types of cancer in the future. I believe that with the rapid development of medical technology, more patients will benefit from precise and efficient new anti-cancer strategies, ushering in a turning point in their lives.

     

     

     

     

         

         

Zhang Minghui          

Founder of Lehe New Medicine

         

Professor Zhang Minghui, with a PhD in Immunology from Tsinghua University School of Medicine, has led a research team for over 20 years since the discovery of vNKT cells in 2002. They have accumulated treatment experience in over 700 cases of solid tumors, covering almost all common solid tumors. The research results fully demonstrate the great value of vNKT cells in the treatment of solid tumors.

It is suitable for postoperative patients with high pathological malignancy or recurrence risk; patients whose tumors have been basically controlled but not cured after conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy; patients with persistent high carcinogenic factors; and patients intolerant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. If these patients do not receive effective follow-up treatment after traditional anti-tumor therapy, recurrence, metastasis, or reoccurrence of tumors will be a high probability event. In this case, vNKT cell therapy is an ideal follow-up treatment method that can significantly improve patient prognosis.

       

         

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Communicate with Professor Zhang Minghui's team

Contributed by: Li Kun

Reviewed by: Qiao Jiacheng, Wang Ying, Gao Chen      

Edited/typeset by Zhang Jiao

   

   

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