By Rivka Borochov (republished here)

Breakthrough: Israel is Developing Cancer Vaccine 153K Share

Vaxil’s groundbreaking therapeutic vaccine, developed in Israel, could keep about 90 percent of cancers from coming back.

As the world’s population lives longer than ever, if we don’t succumb to heart disease, strokes or accidents, it is more likely that cancer will get us one way or another. Cancer is tough to fight, as the body learns how to outsmart medical approaches that often kill normal cells while targeting the malignant ones.
In a breakthrough development, the Israeli company Vaxil BioTherapeutics has formulated a therapeutic cancer vaccine, now in clinical trials at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem. If all goes well, the vaccine could be available about six years down the road, to administer on a regular basis not only to help treat cancer but in order to keep the disease from recurring.

The vaccine is being tested against a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma. If the substance works as hoped — and it looks like all arrows are pointing that way — its platform technology VaxHit could be applied to 90 percent of all known cancers, including prostate and breast cancer, solid and non-solid tumors.

“In cancer, the body knows something is not quite right but the immune system doesn’t know how to protect itself against the tumor like it does against an infection or virus. This is because cancer cells are the body’s own cells gone wrong,” says Julian Levy, the company’s CFO. “Coupled with that, a cancer patient has a depressed immune system, caused both by the illness and by the treatment.”
The trick is to activate a compromised immune system to mobilize against the threat.

A vaccine that works like a drug
A traditional vaccine helps the body’s immune system fend off foreign invaders such as bacteria or viruses, and is administered to people who have not yet had the ailment. Therapeutic vaccines, like the one Vaxil has developed, are given to sick people, and work more like a drug.

Vaxil’s lead product, ImMucin, activates the immune system by “training” T-cells –– the immune cells that protect the body by searching out and destroying cells that display a specific molecule (or marker) called MUC1. MUC1 is typically found only on cancer cells and not on healthy cells. The T-cells don’t attack any cells without MUC1, meaning there are no side effects unlike traditional cancer treatments. More than 90% of different cancers have MUC1 on their cells, which indicates the potential for this vaccine.

“It’s a really big thing,” says Levy, a biotechnology entrepreneur who was formerly CEO for Biokine Therapeutics. “If you give chemo, apart from the really nasty side effects, what often happens is that cancer becomes immune [to it]. The tumor likes to mutate and develops an ability to hide from the treatment. Our vaccines are also designed to overcome that problem.”

For cancers in an advanced stage, treatments like chemo or surgery to remove a large tumor will still be needed, but if the cancer can be brought down to scale, the body is then able to deal with it, Levy explains. ImMucin is foreseen as a long-term strategy — a shot every few months, with no side effects — to stop the cancer from reoccurring after initial treatments, by ensuring that the patient’s own immune system keeps it under control.

In parallel, the company is also working on a vaccine that treats tuberculosis, a disease that’s increasing worldwide, including in the developed world, and for which the current vaccine is often ineffective and treatment is problematic.
Based in Ness Ziona, Vaxil was founded in 2006 by Dr. Lior Carmon, a biotechnology entrepreneur with a doctorate in immunology from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. In June, Vaxil signed a memorandum of understanding to merge its activities into Sheldonco, a company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

For more info about this incredible vaccine, visit Vaxil on the web at http://www.vaxilbio.com

Protein Overview:http://www.onlinewellnesscommunity.com/protein/

Top Protein Sources: http://www.onlinewellnesscommunity.com/blog/2010/07/top-protein-sources/

Unnecessary Nutrition Confusion & Myths Today: http://www.onlinewellnesscommunity.com/blog/2011/02/theres-so-much-confusion-about-nutrition-today-so-much-hype-and-false-information-how-do-you-sort-it-all-out-by-dr-ron-schmid/

Raw Milk: http://www.onlinewellnesscommunity.com/blog/2011/11/milk-the-untold-story-by-dr-ron-schmid/

Read this article on the Top Superfoods for more information: http://www.onlinewellnesscommunity.com/blog/2011/11/top-super-foods-for-healthy-longevity/

P.S. As of today, my vote for top raw plant complete superfood still goes to spirulina (not all are alike of course … we only have identified 2 sources we would consider for OWC’s member Shop).

There are many good nutrients, vitamins and complete protein for our bodies. One of the problems with most vegetarians is that they do not put the work into their diet required by the lifestyle to adequately balance their protein and vitamin intake. It takes effort to obtain a balance of proteins from non-animal sources without overdosing on any particular one.

Eating good quality meat is important at the right quantities. I rarely recommend eating more than 4 oz of any meat at any meal or eating the same meat every day. Even with beef I recommend no more than 5 times a week, placing the total at 20 oz/week, or right at the level recommended for optimal intake. This is a far cry from the almost 5 pounds the average American eats a week.

Dr. Chopra mentions on that CD program that we all have to look at ourselves in the mirror and repeat to ourselves that we are not affected by the praise, or condemnation of others, that we are not above, or below anyone, and that we have no fear in the world. With such an affirmation enlightenment may be achieved.