Restoring Immune Function [^1] :

Nontoxic Cancer Therapy Utilizing Dendritic Cells

Robert Gorter, MD, PhD and Erik Peper, PhD

Dendritic cell therapy has no side effects for me, except for a touch of flu, which means that the treatment is catching on. It does cause a temporary fever, which usually starts about an hour after the injection. Over the course of eight hours, the fever rises a little, in my case to about 102 F (39.5 C).

Somehow it feels fine—I feel as though something positive is happening. I don’t feel ill. Although it’s a real fever, somehow my body knows that I need this. And the results are fantastic. My MRI scans over the past five years have confirmed that the treatment has been successful.

Harmen Wagenmakers, five-year survivor of stage IV liver cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)

All healthy individuals continuously produce autologous cancer cells throughout their lives. Malignant cells result from the effects of mutations, viruses, and exposure to carcinogens ranging from radiation and tobacco smoke to pesticides and food additives, to mention a few.

Combating Cancer

In any human being, cancer cells develop by the thousands every day. As long as the immune system can detect and contain the flow of newly emerging malignant cells, one can go through life without ever having clinically developed cancer. When cancer occurs, by definition the immune response is suppressed, or there has been excessive exposure to carcinogenic substances. Impaired immune function often involves a drop in the number of highly specialized monocytes that detect cancer—the dendritic cells—or due to an impairment in their function.

Dendritic cells are antigen presenting cells that display the digested fragments of phagocytosed pathogens to other immune cells. Under normal conditions, dendritic cells migrate throughout the tissues of the body, checking for abnormal or malignant tissue. When an abnormal cell is detected, the dendritic cell travels to a nearby lymph node, presenting the antigen profile of the abnormal cell to natural killer cells and other cytotoxic T-cells. If the immune system is no longer able to recognize cancer cells, it cannot destroy them as they develop. When that occurs, cancer can gain a foothold and grow unchecked. Tumors can develop, amass, and remain undetected for years, as subclinical cancer.

Researchers have shown that fresh dendritic cells can be introduced into the body in the form of a vaccine. If cancer is present, inoculation with new dendritic cells alerts the immune system to the presence of cancer and restarts immune function. This serves to mobilize the exceptional power of the immune system to recognize cancer and combat it.

Development of Dendritic Cell Vaccinations

Dendritic cells are cultured from the patient’s own white blood cells. After a simple blood draw, the blood is sent to a medical laboratory where technicians separate out monocytes from the blood. These cells are then cultured and transformed in seven days into a new generation of dendritic cells. This new generation of vital, activated dendritic cells is re-introduced into the patient’s own body through a simple injection.

During the transformation of monocytes to dendritic cells in the laboratory, it is possible to specifically sensitize those cells to the patient’s cancer if tumor tissue is available. When tumor tissue can be preserved following the patient’s surgery, it is possible to isolate specific tumor antigens directly from that tissue. Dendritic cells are then exposed to the tumor-specific antigens, and are imprinted with these antigens before being reintroduced back into the body. This process of educating the dendritic cells is described as loading the dendritic cells.

After I had lung surgery to remove some additional tumors, we brought the material from the second lung to Cologne, because it contained active tumor cells. That tissue was used to make the dendritic cells.

Wim Koosterboer, survivor of hepatitis B and associated primary liver cancer with lung metastasis

In most cases, the protocol is applied with dendritic cells cultured from the patient’s blood without loading them with tumor-specific antigens. Approximately 99% of all patients at the Medical Center are vaccinated with “naïve” dendritic cells. Yet the results are still remarkable by any standard, increasing immune response, patient survival, and quality of life.

Treatment History

Over the past 10 years, the Medical Center Cologne has treated roughly 3,800 of patients with dendritic cell therapy for conditions that included brain tumors, primary bone cancer and bone metastasis, breast cancer, colon cancer, liver metastasis of all kinds, cholangiocarcinomas, lung cancer, malignant melanoma, and prostate cancer. Using this protocol, patients with end-stage cancer frequently experience partial remission and stabilize for several years with highly positive quality of life. Some also experience complete remission. For example, 44% of all patients with Glioblastoma multiforme stage IV have experienced complete, long-lasting remission.[^2] This is remarkable, given that the medical literature indicates approximately 95% of all patients diagnosed with Glioblastoma multiforme stage IV die within the first year of diagnosis.

These outcomes reflect the positive survival rates frequently seen in patients at the Medical Center Cologne. Dendritic cell therapy has been an integral aspect of cancer treatment there for more than 10 years, employing safe, effective protocols that have been replicated and repeatedly validated in the peer-reviewed literature. Today, research centers worldwide are studying dendritic cell therapy, and this treatment is rapidly gaining interest as a valid approach to cancer intervention.

Safety and Effectiveness

Dendritic cell therapy is widely recognized in the research literature as safe, with minimal toxicity at the lowest level (Grade 1). This nontoxic treatment is appropriate even for immune-compromised patients and those unable to detoxify medications. The injections are generally well tolerated with almost no side effects except for a 4- to 24-hour fever that typically starts the first day of the injection. Temporary side effects documented by Japanese researchers were “fever (78%), chills (83%), fatigue (23%), and some nausea (17%) experienced on the day of the cell [injections].”[^3]

In my case, the dendritic cell therapy’s symptoms were minimal and lasted no more than two days. The hyperthermia was uncomfortable for me personally, but it only took three hours. There were no side effects from the treatment. After that I felt better and could do what I wanted. The treatment did not exhaust me and because I was not exhausted, it was much easier to stay optimistic.

Harmen Wagenmakers, long-time survivor of stage IV liver cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)

Researchers have also pointed out that dendritic cell therapy offers a safe, effective, non-toxic treatment option for children.[^4][^5] Preliminary studies show that the vaccines are even more effective in younger patients than in adults.

Training the Immune System

When vaccinating for diseases such as tetanus or measles, the same injection must be repeated five to six times at defined intervals, in order to establish life-long immunity. To improve immune function using dendritic cells, cancer patients are initially vaccinated with dendritic cells six times at monthly intervals. Thereafter, the injections are repeated once every six months for the duration of three years as booster shots and then at annual intervals. The importance of frequent vaccination in the initial stage of treatment has been validated in scores of recent research studies.

The Gorter Protocol

In the Gorter Model, the first step in treatment is induced fever-range, total-body hyperthermia or localized hyperthermia. Fever causes an immune response that is essential in eliminating the disease. We know that fever also serves to initiate tissue repair. This is well-documented in situations such as an accident or other types of events causing organ damage. It has also been demonstrated in numerous studies that fever induces the immune response at approximately 102°F (39.5 °C). The immune system then shifts into a highly activated state, in preparation for a system-wide attack on any deviant cells found. Broadly focused immune defenses such as NK cells are also called up. In short, fever primes the body for a full-force immune response. The second step in the protocol is the dendritic cell vaccination itself, which provides the means to identify the cancer cells as the target that must be eliminated.

In terms of dendritic cell therapy, I had the first six treatments in four weeks. I would receive the injection and then after an hour and a half, I would start getting a fever. Before I got home, I would have a fairly high fever. It wasn’t unpleasant—it never made me feel weak, whereas normally a fever might wear me down. Once I laid down and closed my eyes, I always fell asleep fairly quickly.

When I wake up the next day or so, it has already subsided a bit. I always develop a mild headache, but I don’t take anything because the headaches are bearable. I rest that day, go for a walk, get some fresh air, and in the evening it’s gone. That’s it. Those are the only side effects I’ve ever experienced from the treatment.

Karl-Heinz Hagemeyer, four-year survivor, stage IIIb metastatic prostate cancer

Dendritic Cell Research

Research studies confirm the effectiveness of this approach to immunotherapy. Study after study has shown that dendritic cell therapy provides anti-tumor effects and significantly prolonged survival. American studies of dendritic cell therapy have been conducted at major universities that include Harvard Medical School, UCSF Medical School, Stanford, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, and University of Texas.

There is broad agreement that dendritic cell therapy increases the number of T-cells, which results in a stronger immune response. Italian researchers reported, “Dendritic cell targeting…has recently been shown to confer strong and protective cytotoxic T cell-based immunity.”[^6] Studies at research centers around the world have documented the benefits of this therapy for many forms of cancer, including lymphoma, melanoma, metastatic kidney cancer, renal carcinoma, and thyroid cancer. In the U.S., in 2009, a controlled phase II study of metastatic prostate cancer demonstrated that dendritic cell vaccinations are an effective therapy.[^7]

Long-Term Survival

Dendritic cell therapy improves the outcome of cancer treatment and frequently extends life for cancer patients by several years, with improved quality of life:

• In an Austrian study of 10 patients with metastatic thyroid cancer, 30% had stable conditions at one year.
• Research conducted in Korea with 9 renal cancer patients found that 6 of 9 benefited from the dendritic cell vaccine, with an average survival of 2 ½ years.
• German cancer research on metastatic thyroid conditions found that 5 of 10 patients survived more than 3 years with dendritic cell therapy.
• A recent French study involving 56 cancer patients reported patient survival averaging almost 4 years.
• An Italian study following the progress of relapsed lymphoma patients who were then treated with dendritic cell therapy reported that almost 80% were stable after 4 years.
• Japanese research documented the health of 28 lung cancer patients and found a 2-year survival rate of 90% and 5-year survival greater than 50%.

In a Chilean study of 50 patients, those with stage III cancer treated with dendritic cell therapy survived an average of 4 years. Among those with stage IV cancer, 60% responded positively to the treatment and lived almost 3 years.[^14] This is an exceptionally positive result, since survival of stage 4 patients is usually measured in weeks or months. All of these studies involved some form of dendritic cell vaccine.

A Danish study found that one dendritic cell inoculation can double the number of T cells and NK cells in the body in as little as 4 weeks following the injection.[^15] According to British researchers at the U.K. Institute for Cancer Studies, “Dendritic cells are the most potent of all antigen-presenting cells, with the capacity to take up, process, and present tumor antigens to T cells and stimulate an immune response, thus providing a rational platform for vaccine development.”[^16]

This non-toxic immune therapy offers an important option in cancer treatment. Dendritic cell vaccines provide another form of therapy for conditions that cannot be addressed with chemotherapy or radiation, such as metastatic renal cancer or malignant melanoma. The vaccine can be a life-prolonging therapy for stage III and IV patients and, for the vast majority of patients, enhances quality of life.

After I received the dendritic therapy, I recovered quickly and the next scans confirmed that all the cancer was gone. All the scans since then have been good news. The radiologist said: “We don’t believe in miracles, but this sure looks like one.”

Wim Koosterboer, survivor of hepatitis B and associated liver cancer with lung metastasis

Robert Gorter, MD, PhD

Dr. Gorter trained in Amsterdam and for ten years served as physician, researcher, and then medical director of the Department of AIDS Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco Medical School, a department that provided world leadership in defining and treating AIDS. He has spent the past 25 years applying lessons learned from the AIDS epidemic and the emerging field of immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer. Dr. Gorter holds a medical degree in conventional Western medicine from the University of Amsterdam Medical School with postdoctoral work in the U.S., a PhD from the University of Witten/Herdecke in Germany, and specialty training in anthroposophical medicine in Switzerland with an emphasis on oncology. For more information on the Medical Center Cologne and for video interviews of patients in long-term remission, see www.medical-center-cologne.com.

Erik Peper, PhD

An internationally known expert on holistic health, stress management, and biofeedback. Erik Peper received his BA from Harvard University in 1968 and his PhD in psychology from the Union Graduate Institute in 1975. Since 1976 he has taught at San Francisco State University (SFSU), where he has been instrumental in establishing the Institute for Holistic Health Studies, the first program in holistic health at a public university in the U.S. President of the Biofeedback Federation of Europe and former president of the Biofeedback Society of America, he has written more than 200 journal articles and nine books, including Make Health Happen, and Biofeedback Mastery. In addition to teaching, research, consulting, and travel, he maintains a biofeedback practice in Berkeley, California. For additional information, see www.biofeedbackhealth.org and his blog site, www.peperperspective.com.

Resource: Fighting Cancer: A Nontoxic Approach to Treatment

This article is an excerpt from Fighting Cancer: A Nontoxic Approach to Treatment by Robert Gorter, MD, PhD and Erik Peper, PhD, published by North Atlantic Books, copyright © 2011 by Robert Gorter and Erik Peper, reprinted with permission of publisher. Fighting Cancer presents the Gorter Model, a comprehensive treatment protocol that focuses on the body’s intrinsic capacity for healing. This therapy was developed by Robert Gorter, MD, PhD, who in 1976 recovered from stage IV testicular cancer using these techniques rather than chemotherapy or radiation. Based on extensive research and decades of clinical practice, the treatment mobilizes the immune system with hyperthermia, injections of antigen presenting dendritic cells, the botanical mistletoe, nutrients and nutrient infusions, and lifestyle changes.

Nancy Faass, MSW, MPH

A writer and editor in San Francisco, Ms. Faass has worked on the development, writing, and editing of more than 45 books for publishers that include Elsevier, Harper, McGraw-Hill, North Atlantic Books, and others. Director of the Health Writers’ Group, she also works collaboratively on articles, white papers, and writing for the Web and can be reached at info@HealthWritersGroup.com .

References