Curing Cancer With Immunotherapy - Coley's Toxins

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admin — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 23:41:11 +0000

Cancer Immunotherapy Lecture - Randolph-Macon College, Feb 2018

I recount my evidence-driven journey to survive with immunotherapy, discuss the history and advances in immunotherapy and explain the science behind it.

This cancer immunotherapy lecture for the general public was given at Randolph-Macon College in February 2018.

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cancer immunotherapy

history

evidence

checkpoint blockades

PD1

CTLA4

cancer vaccine

adoptive T cell therapy

dendritic cell therapy

Cryoablation

Coley's Toxins

Dr. William Coley

Helen Coley Nauts

Dr. Lloyd Old

Histiocytic Lymphoma Cured with Coleys' Toxins

admin — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 06:08:19 +0000

G.B. was a master mariner (sailor), age 32. When he began receiving Coley's Toxins in 1926, he had only one leg.

Seven years earlier, while on a voyage to England, he'd been thrown against a hatch and bruised his lower left leg. The injured spot never healed and caused him pain over the years. After a long and complicated medical course, histiocytic lymphoma—a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma—was eventually discovered in the leg. (This disease was formerly known as reticulum cell sarcoma.)

Drastic Measures

G.B.'s left leg was amputated mid-thigh in September 1925. The drastic measure reflected the desperate attempt to prevent the cancer from spreading. In the pre-chemotherapy era, once a lymphoma spread, little could be done to save the patient.

Despite the amputation, the cancer had already sown its seeds beyond G.B.'s leg. Three months later, on December 12, a nodule was found just above G.B.'s belly button. It was biopsied and verified to be cancer. A month later, two large tumors were found on the amputated stump of his leg—the size of a fist. In addition, a two-inch mass was found in the left groin. G.B.'s outlook was dismal.

Coley's Toxins therapy

On January 5, 1926, realizing G.B. would soon die, Drs. Christian and Palmer (at the Marine Hospital in Stapleton, Staten Island) began injecting Coley's Toxins into alternate gluteal regions (i.e. the buttocks). Dr. Palmer also gave a few injections directly into one of the tumors, causing violent chills that lasted 15 minutes, and high fever between 104°F and 106°F. But after 4 to 6 hours, G.B. would feel fine.

After three weeks of injections, G.B.'s tumors were measurably smaller, softer and lighter in color. The groin mass had disappeared. But he began to feel extremely weak—apparently from the effects of his body absorbing large quantities of necrotic tumor tissue. Because of this weakness, his doctors stopped the injections.

A Failing Therapy

Unfortunately, the cessation of injections led to a resurgence of tumors. By March, there were three small "vesicles"[1] on the leg stump. The belly-button growth was now the size of a large lemon.

The doctors resumed the injections directly into the tumor on his leg stump, but then had to stop again.

In May and June, tumors began sprouting everywhere—under the skin of his abdomen, on his right collar bone, on his neck bones, skull, and multiple tumors on his scalp. The tumor in his stump had advanced rapidly. The cancer, along with some edema, now caused the stump to measure 31 inches around (almost 3 feet!). A foul discharge spewed from it.

Like Mrs. Gruver (who had metastatic cervical cancer) and Mrs. G.L. (who had metastatic ovarian cancer), Mr. G.B. was a hopeless case the moment his cancer had metastasized in an era before chemotherapy. Only now, G.B.'s sorry state was accentuated by the frightening number of tumors.

Why One Shouldn't Give Up Too Soon With Immunotherapy

At this point, almost any doctor would've thrown in the towel and conceded the therapy wasn't working. Drs. Christian and Palmer had injected strong doses of Coley's Toxins over a period of 5 months. Despite their perseverance, the cancer was inexorably annexing G.B.'s body. Wouldn't it have been more humane to let the cancer take him, instead of putting him through chills and high fevers—all the while having him endure the mental horror of lesions popping up all over his body?

Thankfully, they persisted, injecting large daily doses right into the stump.

Three months later, the stump had dramatically shrunk in size, and had almost healed. The lemon-sized tumor above the belly-button and on the collar bone had disappeared. So had the tumors on his scalp.

Galvanized by the unbelievable turnaround, his doctors kept up the injections. By November 22, G.B. was in excellent health. He'd gained 30 pounds over the year. The stump now measured 17 inches around (instead of 31). The abdomen tumors were gone.

By December 5, 1926—almost one year after beginning Coley's Toxins—G.B. was apparently cured.

Drs. Christian and Palmer at the Marine Hospital discharged him, then reported the case to Dr. William Coley, who advised them to resume the injections to completely eliminate the cancer. And so they did—for another year, until December 7, 1927.

Time, the Ultimate Proof of a Cure

G.B. was presented before the New York Surgical Society by Dr. Coley on March 13, 1929, in the "best of health,"[2] weighing 140 pounds. The stump was normal and he wore an artificial limb. Dr. Coley followed him for several years, and he remained cancer free. G.B. was last seen in January 1953. He had had no illnesses, except for the occasional cold—27 years after toxin therapy.

Just like in the cases of Mrs. Gruver and Mrs. G.L., 100 years ago, Coley's Toxins had taught G.B.'s immune system to suppress widely-disseminated cancer for many decades.

View original case report (see case 29)

Footnotes:

[1] Nauts, Helen Coley, George A. Fowler, and Frances H. Bogatko. A Review of the Influence of Bacterial Infection and of Bacterial Products "(Coley's Toxins)" on Malignant Tumors in Man: A Critical Analysis of 30 Inoperable Cases Treated by Coley's Mixed Toxins, in Which Diagnosis Was Confirmed by Microscopic Examination: Selected for Special Study. Stockh., 1953. 87. Print.

[2] Nauts, 90.

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Coley's Toxins

Lymphoma

Cured

Metastatic Ovarian Cancer Cured with Coley's Toxins

admin — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 23:31:45 +0000

In 1933, Mrs. G.L, age 38, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, went to see her doctor. She’d lost 15 pounds in the previous 6 months. She was fatigued. A fullness in her lower abdomen troubled her.

In February 1933, a surgeon performed exploratory surgery at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, Massachusetts. G.L’s uterus, the adjoining structures and the gastro-intestinal tract looked so atrophied that they could be scarcely identified. The surgeon removed her appendix and a gland from the omentum (an area between the stomach and other abdominal organs). She was diagnosed to have cancer.

G.L was discharged but her condition worsened, becoming “extremely bad.”[1] She’d lost 31 pounds and now weighed 69 pounds. Her doctors considered feeding her rectally (with nutrient enemas). They consulted a radiation oncologist who deemed her case hopeless.

Treatment with Coley's Toxins

Dr. Raymond E. Senecal began injecting her with Coley’s Toxins on September 3, 1933. He clearly realized she was going to die—that drastic therapy was needed. He decided to inject the toxins right into her abdomen, using very high doses. The toxins caused shaking chills and high fevers reaching 104.8°F.

“From the beginning, the progress of the case was miraculous. Her abdomen, which at first was distended to one and one-half times a full-term pregnancy, rapidly flattened down to normal: it decreased from 34 1/2 inches to 25 3/4 inches in the first four weeks. Her appetite became voracious and she gained weight and strength," wrote Dr. Senecal[2]

Dr. Senecal kept injecting Mrs. G.L. In November, a hard, nodular and easily palpable mass appeared in her pelvis. Dr. Senecal injected the toxins straight into that mass. Over a period of six months, he injected her 36 times.

A Second Surgery

In March 1934, a second exploratory surgery was planned. This time, G.L’s abdomen was flat and soft, except for the aforementioned mass. The operation was done at St. Ann’s Hospital in Fall River, under spinal anesthesia. Her uterus, fallopian tube and both ovaries were removed, along with any visible cancer. Pathology showed her to have ovarian cancer (bilateral papillary cystadenocarcinoma).

More Coley's Toxins after surgery

Three months after G.L had healed from surgery, Dr. Senecal resumed the injections. He injected her twice weekly. G.L would receive injections for over one year, (self-administering the injections into her thighs in later months).

G.L gained weight steadily, putting on 40 pounds. Dr. Senecal wrote to Dr. William Coley, stating: “There is no doubt in my mind that this patient owes her life to Coley’s fluid.” [3]

From "almost dead" to "alive 20 years later"

G.L was followed by various doctors over the next 20 years. She was last seen in January 1953, in “excellent health,”[4] weighing 128 pounds with no evidence of cancer.

G.L’s prognosis had been dismal. Her doctors had declared her case hopeless. In the pre-chemotherapy era, she would've been dead within months, maybe weeks, given her dire state.

Today, even with chemo, hormonal therapy and other targeted therapies, only 10-20 percent of patients with her type of aggressive Stage IV ovarian cancer remain alive 5 years after treatment. These modern drugs can extend life at the cost of debilitating side effects. But they cannot cure.

In contrast, Mrs. G.L. was alive and thriving 20 years later, with no evidence of cancer. All those years, she didn't suffer debilitating side effects of drugs. Coley's Toxins had taught her immune system to suppress cancer.

Footnotes:

[2] Nauts, 90.

[3] Nauts, 91.

[4] Nauts, 92.

Tags:

Coley's Toxins

Ovarian cancer

Cured

Metastatic Cervical Cancer Cured with Coleys' Toxins

admin — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 21:16:55 +0000

In 1891, Mrs. R. Gruver, a 41-year-old woman in the small town of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, began to experience pain in her lower abdomen. Over the next two years, her symptoms—vomiting, headaches, and so forth—gradually worsened, and by May 1893, she checked in to the New York Hospital.

The left side of her abdomen hurt when pressed. Her cervix was “very hard,”[i] and the external orifice of her uterus was “surrounded by a ring of hard nodules.”[ii] She was diagnosed with cancer and surgery was scheduled. Dr. William Bull (Dr. William Coley's mentor) operated on her, removing a mass the size of a small avocado, along with her cervix. Surprisingly, pathology showed the growth to be “normal cervical tissue,”[iii] and she was discharged.

All was well for three years. But then her symptoms recurred, with occasional bloody discharge. For another three years, she endured worsening symptoms of nausea, retching, and even vomiting feces.

This time, Mrs. Gruver was seen at a hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a little closer to her hometown. Dr. Charles Thompson performed exploratory surgery, Making a large incision in her abdomen, he discovered suspicious looking masses. The mass in the lower right abdomen was deemed inoperable. Pathology revealed that she had carcinoma of the cervix.

In July 1899, Mrs. Gruver again checked in to New York Hospital. A doctor examined her and found two masses, attached to her intestines, on “each side of her abdomen.”[iv] These twin tumors had been rapidly growing for six months. “The region of the cervix was hard and eroded, her uterus enlarged and firmly fixed.”[v] Mrs. Gruver’s cervical carcinoma had metastasized to her intestines.

With surgery out of the question, chemotherapy not yet invented and radiation therapy barely in its infancy, Mrs. Gruver was sent home. She was told she had less than 18 months to live.

At that point, she was informed about Dr. Coley’s work. She consulted Dr. Coley, who confirmed the diagnosis. Despite the hopeless situation, Dr. Coley was willing to let her try his toxins. One of Mrs. Gruver’s three children was a doctor himself. With instructions from Dr. Coley, the young Dr. Charles Gruver began injecting Mrs. Gruver with the toxins.

The injections began in August 1899. For six months, twice-weekly, Dr. Gruver injected his mother's abdomen. His determination was soon to be rewarded.

Before the young Charles began the injections in August, Mrs. Gruver's tumors had been growing quickly. Soon after, the tumors stopped growing, then gradually shrunk. By December, Dr. Gruver could barely feel them when he pressed on her abdomen.

Along with the tumor shrinkage, Mrs. Gruver’s general condition began to improve. The injections necessitated that she stay in bed for many hours. But in between, she resumed her normal activities and was well enough to perform all of her own housework.

To ensure thorough extermination of the cancer, Dr. Gruver continued the injections once a week for another full year, rested, then resumed injections, making the total duration of treatment about 3 years.

Mrs. Gruver went on to live for another three decades, enjoying “unusually good health,”[vi] never to experience further recurrence of cancer.

Thirty years later (in January 1929), while visiting her son in Asheville, North Carolina, she caught the flu, came down with pneumonia, and died. Had she lived a little while longer, she would have been 80 years old.

The Coley’s Toxins injections had effectively cured her of terminal metastatic cervical carcinoma—a feat still unattainable with modern conventional therapy.

Footnotes:

[i] Nauts, Helen Coley, George A. Fowler, and Frances H. Bogatko. A Review of the Influence of Bacterial Infection and of Bacterial Products "(Coley's Toxins)" on Malignant Tumors in Man A Critical Analysis of 30 Inoperable Cases Treated by Coley's Mixed Toxins, in Which Diagnosis Was Confirmed by Microscopic Examination: Selected for Special Study. Stockh., 1953. 29. Print.

[ii] Nauts, 29.

[iii] Nauts, 29.

[iv] Nauts, 29.

[v] Nauts, 29.

[vi] Nauts, 30.

Tags:

Coley's Toxins

Cervical cancer