Click here to see technical paper
In allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) procedures, the transplanted immune system from a normal donor is capable of mediating a powerful
anti-tumor mechanism called the graft-vs.-tumor (GVT) effect. The powerful GVT effect is mediated by T-cells that originate from the donor.
Unfortunately, these same T-cells not only kill tumors, but also kill normal
tissues. The killing of normal tissues results in an extremely toxic and
often lethal side-effect called graft-vs-host (GVH) disease.
Scientists at Immunovative Therapies believe they have developed a solution
to the problem of separating the beneficial GVT effect from the detrimental
GVH effect of BMT procedures. The solution is to develop a T-cell infusion
that will mirror the mechanisms mediated by the transplanted immune system
to host immune system. This concept is called the Mirror Effect™.
In the Mirror Effect™, T-cells from a normal donor are infused into a patient
and instead of these foreign cells mediating the GVT effect, these cells
instead stimulate the patient's own immune system to attack the tumor. This
is an effect known as the host-vs-tumor (HVT) effect and it is the mirror
image of the GVT effect. The patient's immune system is alerted by the
infusion of foreign cells and raises up to reject the foreign cells, an
effect known as host-vs-graft (HVG). The HVG effect is the mirror image of
the GVH effect. However, unlike the GVH effect the HVG effect is not toxic.
The reason that the GVT effect is such a powerful immune mechanism for
curing cancers is that the interaction between the host and donor creates
the release of an array of inflammatory cytokines that signal the body of an
imminent danger. These danger signals shut down the ability of the tumor
to avoid an immune attack and enable immune-mediated killing of tumors
disseminated through-out the body. The Mirror Effect™ creates these same
danger signals in the context of a rejection response to a foreign cell
infusion (HVG) rather than as an attack against normal tissues (GVH).
Thus the Mirror Effect™ has the potential to cause a proven curative
anti-tumor effect of BMT without the extremely toxic side-effects. This
represents a new concept in the treatment of cancer.
Related Topics and Reading:(clicking on the following link will open a .pdf file)
Independent Proof of Mirror Effect Concept
 Experimental Hematology
Clinical Immunology
Danger Hypothesis |