Harnessing AAIT™ for Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Autologous Adoptive Immunotherapy (AAIT™) diverges significantly from chemotherapy, radiation, and even other forms of immunotherapy, presenting a novel approach to the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Typically, conventional treatments rely on chemicals or radiation, which impact both healthy and cancerous cells indiscriminately, with the goal of damaging the fast-reproducing cancer cells more than the healthy ones.

AAIT™ diverges from this philosophy by utilizing your own immune cells to target and destroy pancreatic cancer cells. By using your own immune cells, the usual side effects of chemotherapy and radiation can be minimized while maintaining a cytotoxicity level comparable to conventional treatment [1].

This unique form of immunotherapy focuses on the cellular interactions within the pancreatic tumor environment to sensitize immune cells to your unique strain of cancer. In this way, AAIT™ offers a personalized therapy that adapts specifically to each cancer patient. Envita Medical Centers seeks to improve outcomes for patients irrespective of whether they are at the early or late stages of disease.

Due to its cutting-edge nature, AAIT™ is not currently FDA-approved, but we are proud to make this revolutionary treatment available at our Envita Mexico location. In order to harness the power of your own immune cells, we employ a meticulous process of retrieving Natural Killer (NK) and dendritic cells from a blood sample before they are engineered to enhance their cancer-fighting capability, specific to your own strain of cancer. This type of adoptive immunotherapy has been observed to have a cytotoxic effect comparable to chemotherapy while mitigating the debilitating side effects associated with such treatments [2]. This approach is tailored to the patient to improve treatment outcomes either independently or in concurrence with other forms of cancer therapy, while preserving quality of life.

AAIT™ for pancreatic cancer harnesses your own immune cells, specifically Natural Killer (NK) and dendritic cells, to identify and destroy tumor cells personalized to your own strain of the disease. After the immune cells are taken from the body by collecting a blood sample, a couple of steps are taken to create the medicine, which will be delivered to your body after several weeks.

First, the NK and dendritic cells are grown in a laboratory to greatly expand their numbers, far faster than would be possible inside the human body. Even more important than having more immune cells, however, is the fact that the growth process also selects for immune cells that are responsive against your specific strain of cancer, including the unique antigens present on the cancer cells’ surfaces [3]. Only immune cells that demonstrate activity against cancer cells collected from your body with a fresh biopsy are allowed to replicate [3].

The modified NK and dendritic cells are reinfused into your body where they will seek out and destroy cancer cells in every part of the body [4]. In this way AAIT™, a targeted therapy, avoids many of the side effects associated with traditional cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation. Quality of life during and after treatment is greatly improved by avoiding the collateral damage to healthy tissue that comes with chemotherapy and radiation [5].  

The future of care for pancreatic cancer is optimistic, driven by constant research and clinical advancements, especially in the area of immunotherapy. Our understanding of the tumor microenvironment and the immune system response to cancer continues to grow, prompting the development of new techniques like AAIT™, which continues to be refined for better specificity and efficacy. There is great potential in combination therapy with AAIT™ used in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments to enhance the therapeutic effect of both treatments [6]. A combination approach to treatment can potentially provide hope for individuals diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Currently AAIT™ is not available inside the US, and increasing the accessibility and reducing the cost of the treatment are crucial for allowing adoptive immunotherapy to become more widespread. Every year, our clinicians work hard to streamline the expansion process for immune cells in culture and enhance the cell infusion process. Eventually, the years-long clinical trial process should enable adoptive immunotherapy to be available for patients without leaving the US through FDA approval [7].

Patients are also becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of a personalized approach to cancer medicine. Considering the genetic characteristics of the patient and their cancer can increase treatment effectiveness and patient survival rates [8]. While challenges remain, the progress that has been made in the field of adoptive immunotherapy, including AAIT™, hold the potential for revolutionizing the world of pancreatic cancer care. Clinical trials for this new field of medicine are ongoing but results so far are already very promising. The hard work of scientists and clinicians could pave the way for adoptive immunotherapy to become a cornerstone of cancer treatment in the future. The evolving landscape of cancer care underscores how continued innovation and collaboration in the scientific community helps those struggling with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. This is why we, at Envita Medical Centers, work hard to remove the limitations of geographical locations or disease stage and type, and help every needy patient experience the benefits of AAIT™.

1. Kawaoka, T., Oka, M., Takashima, M., Ueno, T., Yamamoto, K., Yahara, N., Yoshino, S., & Hazama, S. (2008). Adoptive immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer: Cytotoxic T lymphocytes stimulated by the MUC1 -expressing human pancreatic cancer cell line YPK-1. Oncology Reports, 20(1), 155–163. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.20.1.155.
2. Kawai, Y., Kawana-Tachikawa, A., Kitayama, S., Ueda, T., Miki, S., Watanabe, A., & Kaneko, S. (2021). Generation of highly proliferative, rejuvenated cytotoxic T cell clones through pluripotency reprogramming for adoptive immunotherapy. Molecular Therapy, 29(10), 3027–3041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2021.05.016.
3. Hunyadi, J., András, C., Szabó, I., Szántó, J., Szluha, K., Sipka, S., Kovács, P., Kiss, A., Szegedi, G., Altorjay, I., Sápy, P., Antal-Szalmás, P., Tóth, L., Fazekas, G., & Rajnavölgyi, É. (2014). Autologous Dendritic Cell Based Adoptive Immunotherapy of Patients with Colorectal Cancer—A Phase I-II Study. Pathology Oncology Research, 20(2), 357–365. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-013-9704-3.
4. Chen, R., Deng, X., Wu, H., Peng, P., Wen, B., Li, F., & Li, F. (2014). Combined immunotherapy with dendritic cells and cytokine-induced killer cells for malignant tumors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Immunopharmacology, 22(2), 451–464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intimp.2014.07.019.
5. Sanchez, C., Chan, R., Bajgain, P., Rambally, S., Palapattu, G., Mims, M., Rooney, C. M., Leen, A. M., Brenner, M. K., & Vera, J. F. (2013). Combining T-cell immunotherapy and anti-androgen therapy for prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, 16(2), 123–131. https://doi.org/10.1038/pcan.2012.49.
6. Schizas, D., Charalampakis, N., Kole, C., Economopoulou, P., Koustas, E., Gkotsis, E., Ziogas, D., Psyrri, A., & Karamouzis, M. V. (2020). Immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer: A 2020 update. Cancer Treatment Reviews, 86, 102016–102016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctrv.2020.102016.
7. Phillips, C. (2024, March 5). FDA approves first cellular therapy to treat patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-cellular-therapy-treat-patients-unresectable-or-metastatic-melanoma.
8. Mehla, K., & Singh, P. K. (2020). Metabolic subtyping for novel personalized therapies against pancreatic cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, 26(1), 6–8. https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-2926.

Disclaimer: The information on this website is for educational purposes only and not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice and treatment options.