NATURAL KILLER (NK) Cells in the immune system bring a beacon of hope to cancer patients and those in fear of suffering from relapse.
Dr Danaraj Navaratnam the resident doctor with special interest in Cellular Therapy & Regenerative Medicine from CELLAAX Therapy (CELLAAX), a homegrown biopharmaceutical company told The Petri Dish during a recent interview that natural killer cells within the body’s immune system can be used to prevent cancer relapses from occurring.
This will be one of the new paradigms in treating cancer patients as the therapy targets only cancer cells in the body in a precise manner – designed to destroy only the rogue cells.
CELLAAX, established in 2019, is focusing on cellular therapy to combat cancer and other diseases by engaging in cellular therapy and the use of secretome to restore and repair damaged cells or tissues in the body through natural healing. CELLAAX is partnering with 23 Century International Life Science Centre, the leading manufacturer of high-quality stem cells and NK cells in Southeast Asia.
Under conventional cancer therapy, patients are usually offered a range of treatment from surgery to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Unfortunately, sometimes even after removing the tumour, the cancer may return due to a small number of rogue cells known as Circulating Tumour Cells (CTC) present in the bloodstream, which have the capability to spread to other parts of the body.
To combat CTC, NK cells are able to detect these cells which usually go undetected through usual scans. NK Cells have been described as key players to the immune control of cancer cells because of their ability to specifically kill tumour cells.
Danaraj said the re-cultivating of the NK cells begins by drawing a blood specimen from the patient and then culture over a period of 14 days. During this period, the strongest NK cells will be identified followed by a stringent process to obtain the highest quality of NK cells to be cultured. After patients have received the cultured NK cells, the reinforced NK cells will arrive at the cancer battle scene to kill the rogue cells, even before they can begin their march to infiltrate healthy tissues.
“Recently, I had a patient with colon cancer who presented with severe jaundice. After three days post NK Cell Therapy, we noted the reduction in the intensity of jaundice in the eyes as well as improvement in appetite. He was more active, and could mobilise more since the initiation of NK treatment,” added Danaraj.
“Chemotherapy has the ability to destroy many cells, including healthy NK cells in the body. The sad reality for cancer patients is that they potentially succumb to the disease due to the various complications arising from a weakened immune system, with potential for infections to take over – such as sepsis, eventually causing the demise of the patient. We noted that our patients on NK Cell treatments had less history of hospitalisations and an overall improvement in immune status,” said Danaraj.
NK Cells Therapy is suitable for everyone. Sometimes, a combination therapy may provide a synergistic result. For example, the risk of removing a large tumour may be reduced by undergoing NK cell therapy before the surgery because NK cells can help to shrink the size of the tumour and minimise the pre and post-operative risks. NK cell therapy can also help to boost the patient’s immune system post-chemo or radiotherapy and prevent relapse possibilities.
The advantages of this NK Cell therapy compared to traditional chemotherapy includes improvement on the patients quality of life, reduction of cancer markers and CTC while boosting the patients immunity with non-recorded side effects.
