One Day MD | Evidence-Based Wellness

What are Natural Killer Cells? Natural killer (NK) cells, a specific type of white blood cell, are an important component of your innate immune system. Your immune system consists of two different branches — cell-mediated immunity (innate) and humoral immunity (adaptive). When you contract a viral disease, the pathogen enters your body and infects your cells. The subsequent disease process involves your cell-mediated immune response, which activates your NK cells, along with chemicals that attract them to the site of infection, where the white blood cells basically chew up and spit out the infected cells. This process clears the virus and rejuvenates the gel-like water inside your cells. During recovery, your humoral immune system kicks in and starts generating antibodies against the virus to help prevent the same kind of disease process and symptoms from occurring again, should you be exposed to the same virus later on. As long as your cell-mediated immune system i...

Patients receiving chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy to treat blood cancer have a low risk of developing additional blood cancers from such treatments, according to a Stanford Medicine study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM 2024). CAR-T therapy is a type of cancer therapy for blood cancers that do not respond well to standard treatments. T immune cells are extracted from patients, genetically modified to make them better cancer fighters, and then returned to the patient’s body. The treatment has a 76 percent remission rate, according to the study. Some of the earliest trial patients have been in remission for a decade or more, and over 30,000 U.S. patients have been treated with the therapy. In November 2023 , the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter stating that patients undergoing the therapy were at an increased risk of developing secondary cancers, particularly T-cell lymphoma, a rare and difficult-to-treat blood can...

Cancer remains a significant global health concern, claiming almost 10 million lives in 2020, equating to nearly one in six deaths worldwide. The most prevalent cancer types include breast, lung, colon, rectum, and prostate cancers, which collectively contribute to a substantial burden on healthcare systems and families around the world. Traditional cancer treatments primarily involve surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. While these approaches have shown effectiveness in many cases, some patients may require a more comprehensive strategy to combat the disease. This has led to the emergence of innovative treatment options, such as combining radiation therapy with hyperthermia or immunotherapy. Contents What is Hyperthemia?   • Hyperthermia Therapy for Cancer   • Hyperthermia in Combined Treatment of Cancer What is Immunotherapy?   • Immunotherapy in Combined Treatment of Cancer FAQs What is Hyperthermia? Hyperthermia is an abnormally high body temperature because ...

How do immune checkpoint inhibitors work against cancer? Immune checkpoints are a normal part of the immune system. Their role is to prevent an immune response from being so strong that it destroys healthy cells in the body. Immune checkpoints engage when  proteins  on the surface of  immune cells  called  T cells  recognize and bind to partner proteins on other cells, such as some  tumor  cells. These proteins are called immune checkpoint proteins. When the checkpoint and partner proteins bind together, they send an “off” signal to the T cells. This can prevent the immune system from destroying the cancer. Immunotherapy drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors work by blocking checkpoint proteins from binding with their partner proteins. This prevents the “off” signal from being sent, allowing the T cells to kill cancer cells. One such drug acts agai...

Looking for the best immunotherapy doctors in Malaysia? We've got you covered. Best Immunotherapy Doctors in Malaysia Choosing the right immunotherapy doctor in Malaysia is not as simple as choosing a GP (General Practitioner) to get your next MC.  An oncologist is a medical specialist but there is a difference between the various sub-specialties. Make sure you are seeing the right one. Examples of cancer sub-specialists include:  Medical oncologist - Treats cancers using drugs, eg: chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy Clinical oncologist - Treats cancer using drugs and radiation therapy Radiotherapist or Radio-oncologist - Treats cancer using radiation therapy Surgical oncologist - Uses surgical procedure to remove tumours Gyne-oncologist - Treats gynecologic cancers.  Hemato-oncologist - Treats blood cancers. To assist you in finding the best immunotherapy doctor in Malaysia, we have c...

The immune system is our body’s armed forces, designed to defend our body against all intruders that seek to harm us. So, why doesn’t it seem to work when it comes to cancer? Well, the answer is that cancer cells can be really crafty, employing a number of strategies to avoid being sought out and destroyed by our body’s soldiers. That is why we humans had to get even craftier. Immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that helps our immune system in its fight against cancer. According to consultant clinical oncologist Dr Tho Lye Mun: “Immunotherapy is probably the biggest, most exciting breakthrough we’ve had in cancer for a long, long time.” He adds: “The success story of immunotherapy is in melanoma, but we don’t get a lot of that in Malaysia. “But we get a lot of lung cancer. It is the number one cancer killer of men in Malaysia, and the third for women after breast and cervical cancer. “And that’s where immunotherapy has had the greatest impact (in Malaysia).” ...