Could OMS unlock secrets to new cancer treatments?
Many of you will recall Keira’s original Neuroblastoma/OMS diagnosis -- cancer and autoimmune disease. The Neuroblastoma had for some reason triggered her immune system to respond, which in turn cross-reacted with her nervous system to cause the autoimmunity of OMS. Why is this interesting?
Cancer typically evades the immune system because cancer cells are you own
In OMS, cancer does trigger an immune response, but not known why
Neuroblastoma in OMS cases tend to have a good prognosis; believed to be due to the immune response against the cancer.
Neuroblastoma is discovered in about 50%-60% of OMS cases. In the cases where they don't find a Neuroblastoma, many researchers now believe that it once existed and the immune response led to the cancer regression -- which is miraculous!
In this article from the Institute of Cancer Research, Dr. Louis Chesler discusses how understanding the mechanisms at play with OMS could one day lead to developments in cancer immunotherapy, an emerging form of treatment where drugs utilize the bodies immune system to fight cancer.
This is yet another reason why research for OMS is important. It can help Keira and kids afflicted with OMS but also provide insights that could lead to treatments for a broad array of cancers.
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