onkommon.com
Cellular therapy
Dendritic cell & other cellular therapies
An investigational field, and one where patients are frequently sold things that do not work.
Referral & opinion only
What it is
Dendritic cells present targets to the immune system. Dendritic-cell vaccines and related cellular approaches attempt to use that to direct an immune response against tumour tissue.
Outside a small number of specific licensed products and registered clinical trials, this remains an area of research. We are including it on this website for one reason: it is heavily marketed to Indian cancer patients, often at very high cost, frequently to families who have been told nothing else can be done.
When it is used
- Within a registered clinical trial with an ethics-approved protocol
- Where a specific product is licensed for a specific indication
- Not, in our view, as a paid treatment outside either of those settings
How the decision is made
- We will tell you what evidence exists for the specific product being offered to you, and at what evidence tier, including when the honest answer is that there is very little.
- We will help you check whether the offer is a registered trial, a licensed product, or neither.
- If you decide to proceed anyway, we will keep your records straight and continue your care. That is your decision to make, and we will not withdraw from a patient for making it.
At the trial site or licensed centre offering it. KPCIRC does not provide, broker or take any payment in connection with cellular therapies.
Who does what
What we handle, and what happens elsewhere
KPCIRC handles
- An independent written opinion on what is being offered to you
- A check of trial registration and product licensing status
- Board review of whether it fits your situation at all
- A search for registered trials you may genuinely be eligible for
- Continued care whatever you decide
Performed and billed elsewhere
- Any cell collection, manufacture or administration
- All costs charged by the provider offering it
- If you are being asked to pay a large sum for a cellular or immune treatment outside a registered trial, bring us the paperwork before you pay. Ask for the trial registration number. A legitimate trial has one.
- Be particularly careful with any offer made after you have been told treatment options are exhausted. That is the moment families are most vulnerable and it is the moment this is most often sold.
Questions to ask your own doctor
Take these with you. They work whether or not you are treated here.
- Is this a registered clinical trial? What is the registration number?
- Is this product licensed in India for my specific disease?
- What published evidence exists, and in patients like me?
- What exactly am I paying for, and what happens if it does not work?
- What would you do if this were your family?
Support that goes with it
Where this is used
Cancers this commonly forms part of
Not sure this is the right option for you?
That is exactly what a second opinion is for. Bring what you have, we will tell you what is missing and what the alternatives actually are, in writing.