Photo Credit: Sophie LeMay
By Jackie Acho and John LeMay
We have long believed that immunotherapy is the answer to cancer. For many people, and certainly for me. I’m not one of the lucky minority with late-stage ovarian cancer for whom chemo catalyzes remission. We’ve known this would be the case since early in my first round (of what has become 3) of chemotherapy 2 years ago. I tolerate the chemo well, through diet and nutritional supplements, but it doesn’t really work.
Why? Maybe because my immune system was dysregulated by mold toxicity and mass cell activation in the first place. Maybe something else in my particular genes makes it difficult to stop the cancering process once it begins. Maybe because chemo is truly poison, not really a medicine, and shouldn’t be mainlined into human bodies. Yet, it buys time for me and others, so we abide it. It’s an old solution, often considered the “gold standard of care” in the United States, even when it doesn’t work. Knowing all of this, it’s a struggle to sit in a chemo infusion chair.
The hope has always been to somehow right my immune system so that it can fight cancer on its own. Once we got through chemo round one, I tried to do this naturally, with all of the nontoxic anticancer therapies that work (e.g., hyperbaric oxygen, mistletoe shots, plant strong clean ketogenic nutrition, immune boosting supplements, hyperthermia). Like blanket chemo solutions, these often effective therapies, even when conscientiously applied in combination, were no match for my particular cancer. I bought some time, but not a lifetime. Combining chemo WITH nontoxic therapies in Istanbul (e.g., whole body hyperthermia, hyperbaric oxygen, nutritional infusion) saved my life but didn’t give me a remission. Similar treatments closer to home in Chicago have been less effective for reasons that flummox all the docs. My cancer is very, very smart.
So, it’s time to pivot, hard. Immunotherapy for ovarian cancer is relatively nascent, and it’s clear that not all ovarian cancers are the same. Personalized immunotherapy would give us the best chance, but that’s not how the research is usually done. So, it’s tricky, and yet again, experimental…in which I am the lab rat. We have some leads, and we have some guides, but John and I are hard at work again trying to sort out options and discern the best way forward. To find the true “gold standard” of care, for me.
Certainly, immunotherapy will be a big part of the future of more empathic cancer treatments (and perhaps even prevention). Immunotherapies work with our bodies, rather than against them. They support natural functions vs kill indiscriminately the way chemo does. Here are the basics:
- Cancer immunotherapy treatments seek to both increase the level of immune system activity and also overcome cancer’s ability to hide from the immune system.
- Cancers can take hold in the body for many reasons but the immune system is always part of the story – cancers can progress if the immune system is compromised in some fashion or if cancer finds a way to hide from the immune system.
- Cancer hides from the immune system by presenting itself in a way that the immune system doesn’t recognize as a foreign body – once it achieves that condition it is able to grow uninhibited by our normal immune response.
- Immunotherapy often addresses differences typically found in cancer patients, such as
- Genetic differences
- Support for tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes which can help kill cancer cells as they form
- Helping our immune systems recognize cancer cells that have developed sophisticated ways of hiding/disguising themselves
There are several types of immunotherapy treatments in use and under development:
- Monoclonal antibodies and checkpoint inhibitors – Made in a lab, these antibodies slow or stop the growth of abnormal proteins in cancer cells. The goal is to alter the cancer cells so they are no longer able to “trick” the body into thinking they’re healthy cells so they can keep growing. This is the most commonly approved type of immunotherapy at this time.
- T-cell therapy (CAR T-cell therapy) – The patient’s own T-cells (immune system cells that fight infection) are removed from the blood. Next, a lab-created receptor is added to the T-cells, which are put back in the body. The receptors are able to identify cancer cells and destroy them.
- Cancer vaccines – Treatment vaccines are still mostly in the research phase to see how they can use the body’s immune system to identify and destroy specific types of cancer cells. A common approach is a dendritic cell vaccine. Here a patient’s dendritic cells are loaded with a tumor-specific antigen (a toxin or other foreign substance which induces an immune response) and reintroduced to the body, which allows the body to recognize and attack tumor cells. The same mRNA technology used in Pfizer/BionTech’s Covid vaccine is now also being used to develop cancer vaccines.
- Oncolytic virus therapy – Oncolytic viruses are those that are nonpathogenic to healthy cells but infect cancer cells, prompting a broader immune reaction
The field of immunotherapy has exploded over the last decade, and these emerging therapies are the most promising treatments to come out of cancer research in a very long time. Some people are calling this explosion of immunotherapy research and treatment options cancer’s “penicillin moment.” They don’t work for everyone with cancer, and there is much more work needed, but supporting immune system function makes intuitive sense.
There are many things we can do to support a healthy immune system on our own. Sleep. Exercise. Eat clean, healthy food. Drink pure water. Take additional vitamins/supplements as needed (e.g., C, D, A…get a great functional doctor to help you understand what your body needs). Laugh! Yes, laughter increases natural killer cells. Not so easy to do once the cancering process has begun, so try to get your laughs in while you’re not in a health crisis.
Once the cancering process is in motion, we need more. We need effective, empathetic (working with the body) medical interventions to restore immune system function. That is our hope with immunotherapy for everyone, including me.
We’re back to work, excavating options. We’ll let you know what we find. Immunotherapy is the answer for the future of cancer treatment…hopefully in time for me.
Jackie and John, thank you for sharing your insight on the curent situation and the future of immunotherapy. Our prayers are with you and your family! Lamar
Thanks so much, Lamar. All the best to you and Ginger
Jackie
Prayers and love to you, John and your family. Praying that you find a solution to your cancer. God speed.
Thank you, April 🙏
Jackie (and John), thank you for allowing us to be be part of this courageous, inspiring and daunting journey. Sharing your story prompts me to take a moment in this harried world to reflect on life in general. Thank you💕
Thank you for saying so, Colette
Wow! Thank you for sharing these amazing things that are out there and “coming soon to a hospital near you”. What a gift God has given you to know where to look for these resources and to share them so well. I’m am so sorry you’re the lab rat at the time & I will continue to pray for your journey & for His grace & mercy to be tangible.
Thanks so much, Kelly
Thank you for taking the time and energy to share all this information. It is so helpful; thank you for teaching us. You both are such amazing role models for all of us, and your children are so lucky to have such incredible parents. And love, LOVE the picture, Sophie!
Thanks so much
Yeah, Sophie is the best photographer ❤️
Amazing. I am so inspired by your strength and persistance. 💕🙏🏻💕
It feels like the only way
Thank you Courtney 🙏
Holy Cow! You and John should be given medical degrees with specialties in cancer treatment. As always you are a brilliant teacher and avid learner. Thank you for sharing your journey and all of your studies with us.
And, damn. I am so sorry that your cancer is so smart. So frustrating. Your resilience is inspiring. Continuing prayers for you. So glad that the previous attempt gave you more time, tools and health to launch this next iteration of research. Love you so much!!
Thanks Elizabeth
Love you too
Continued prayers for your journey.
Thank you 🙏
These wonderful insights into cancer treatments are a blessing for all of us. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, your research and your guidance. And let’s hope and pray that immunotherapy works for you!!!
Thank you Cathy 🙏
Aah…Jackie…you are courageous and yes, inspiring…I know none of this has been easy nor was it your choice…Love ya girl…Teresa
Love you too, Teresa
Thank you, Jackie, for sharing your wealth of knowledge and great insights. It is such a privilege to continue to learn from you. Thinking of you each and every day. Thanks to Sophie for an absolutely exquisite photograph. Love love love. <3
Love you Susan
Love you too Jackie!! And is your laptop still on Istanbul time? Somehow feels right! Xo
Not my laptop but the blog is somehow, yes!
Jackie,
Thank you for sharing. Thinking of you.
Laurie
🙏❤️
God bless you, thank you.
I think about you two so often
Just started the eye of the I
Much love
I learn so much from reading your entries. Not only about science and medicine, but about strength, love, resilience, courage, commitment, and of course- empathy.
Thank you
Oh, my sweet friend. Thank you for this post and the research you and John are doing. I too am back looking for another solution to my cancer. Hopefully between the two of us and those that are also researching other options we will find some effective treatments that can eradicate cancer.
I am currently in Arizona working with Dr. Tom Incledon at the Causenta Wellness center. He has a unique methodology of preparing the immune system for Immunotherapy using exercise with oxygen. It’s called EWOT.
The research he does is way beyond anything I’ve seen. This guy digs and digs into every aspect of your genetics, environmental factors, and anything he can find that not only causes your cancer but also finding what is out there to treat it. Getting your body to a state that your NK (natural killer cells) can actually do their job. One of the big things I have learned that your traditional oncologists don’t explain is when they do tumor typing or test the DNA of your type of cancer and then match it to a drug or chemotherapy that works the report comes back with a list of all the drugs that will work along with a rating number. For example, mine shows that Carboplatin has a rating of 86. Higher than any other drug matched to my cancer cells. What that actually means is this drug will kill 86% of your cancer. This may be good enough to get you into NED but the cancer is still there, hiding. How do you go after the other 14%? And in my case having the TP53 gene, there is nothing out there that kills that so it is up to my bodies NK cells to go after it. This is where Dr. Tom’s unique combination of therapies specific to me and my body becomes key.
Again, I am so grateful for all that you and John are doing and sharing to help not only yourself but blazing a trail for others as well.
Love and hugs,
Dori
Thanks for sharing, Dori. We are grateful to learn from your experience as well. I’m so glad you are in good hands. All you say makes sense. Much love back to you
Jackie, I’m new to your news and this information. Thanks for sharing with us, and for being such a champion with your own health and care. I am thinking of your closely.
PS, Sophie takes a nice photo!
Thanks. She’s a wonderful photographer!
Thanks so much, Anna
Yes lets find this immunotherapy path forward for you indeed – then feast on Lucky Nuts together!
That sounds wonderful
Brilliant. I don’t know where you get your strength but it’s admirable. I look forward every week to learning something new & innovative from you. It saddens me to know you have to suffer for good information to come into the light, but grateful for your courage, brilliance & willingness to share all you’re going through. Still praying for your long term survival! Keep fighting!
Thank you sweet friend
Jackie – I am hopeful that developments in immunotherapy will give you a powerful tool on your toolbox to regain your health. Your academic rigor in approaching cutting edge treatments is incredibly impressive as alway, and I look forward to a day when your thorough research enables a major health breakthrough in your care. Sending much love and warm hugs.
Thank you Samara
I just hope there is something in time for me
It will come eventually
Chemo is barbaric
Love and a hug back to you
Hi Jackie,
Two things:
1. What a wonderful photo of you and John!
2. To borrow a phrase from Charles Dickens, the current era of cancer treatment may wellbbe remembered as “an age of wisdom and an age of foolishness.”
Heartfelt thanks for the steadfast way that you have been shining the light on both the wisdom and the foolishness here.
Keep it up and God bless!
Thanks so much, Mike.
Dear Jackie, Sunny and warm greetings from San Diego! Thanks for sharing this information in such a clear way. My first nursing job was working with cancer patients at Holy Family Cancer Home in Parma in the ‘80s with many kind nuns (Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne). So much progress has been made since then, and so much more in the making thanks to people like you.
You’re in my thoughts and prayers always. Hugs, Mark (p.s. Sophie was my kind waiter earlier this month!🥰)
Thanks for sharing Mark 😘😘🙏🙏