Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer (QSCBC), King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, (KCMH), Thai Red Cross Society (TRCS), was initiated following Her Majesty Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother’s wish for the centre to be a ‘sanctuary for women’ with breast cancer. At present, the Centre has acquired innovative equipment and modern medical technologies for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer patients. Immunotherapy is also a new innovative kind of treatment for breast cancer at the centre.
On 4 March 2021 at Vongvanij Building, Assoc. Prof. Krit Chadamara, M.D., Head of Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer, KCMH, TRCS, presided over a press conference to announce the successful research to develop immunotherapy treatment for breast cancer. During the event, he also explained that “Immunotherapy is the use of dendritic cells; which are the most elementary immune cells. They are the only antigen-presenting cell capable of stimulating naive T cells which helps the immune system seek out and kill cancer cells. For this purpose, dendritic cells are removed from a patient and taken to the laboratory where they are primed with peptide (a specific protein for each breast cancer patient). These cells are then returned to the patient, causing the T cells to attack the targeted tumor cells.
“The first patient who received immunotherapy had a history of breast cancer which metastasized to the liver, bone, lungs over three years. The patient received chemotherapy after surgery, unfortunately the recurrent cancer was found later. The patient then asked to stop the treatment. The patient was recommended to take part in the immunotherapy procedure. After 6 months of treatment, there was improvement in signs and symptoms. A liver biopsy result is also another piece of important medical and scientific evidence. Based on the results, cancer cells were not detected. “
To achieve success in this research, QSCBC worked in collaboration with foreign institutions as well as the Department of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, and King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society. However, new immunotherapy treatment for cancer still needs further research and development to improve the efficacy and safety of such treatments.
For those wishing to support the operation of QSCBC, please make a deposit to the savings account named “the Thai Red Cross Fundraising Bureau (สำนักงานจัดหารายได้ สภากาชาดไทย)” No. 045-2-62588-8, Siam Commercial Bank. Donors can send money transfer slips along with their names, addresses and phone numbers to [email protected] or fax number + 66 2652 4440 in order to obtain receipts for tax deduction.
