medical-center-cologne: Newcastle disease virus

Newcastle Disease Virus At the Medical Center Cologne, one of the innovative approaches provided is nontoxic treatment using the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) as a form of therapy. The NDV was first recorded in England in 1926 and was subsequently identified in Indonesia and other regions of Southeast Asia. Newcastle virus is not related to the avian influenza virus. NDV can selectively infect cancer cells, initiating cell death without toxicity to healthy human cells. NDV is therefore considered a natural oncolytic virus. . Patient inhaling Newcastle Disease Virus through a nebulizer		As an infectious agent, this virus is highly contagious to poultry, yet has no effect on mammals and human beings except for brief episodes of respiratory infection, periodically reported among poultry workers. Newcastle disease is defined as an “oncoloytic virus,” which selectively infects mammalian and human cancer cells and destroys them (“apoptosis”), yet has no effect on healthy human cells.
		NDV evolved to infect cells that do not produce interferon, which is characteristic of birds. As a result, the Newcastle Disease virus selectively kills those human cancer cells which have suppressed their intra-cellular INF production. NDV is completely non-pathogenic to healthy human being tissue. When the Newcastle disease virus infects cancer cells, the malignant cells quickly deteriorate and die within three to four days. As the cancer cells die, they drop their escape mechanisms and thus, their tumor-specific antigens—their ID—becomes better detectable to dendritic cells.

At the Medical Center Cologne, the Newcastle disease virus is used to treat more aggressive forms of cancer, sometimes as preparative support for dendritic cell therapy.

Since 2002, this vital therapy has been integrated into the protocol for solid tumours to reduce the cancer load and enable immune therapy to work more effectively.

In the Gorter Model, a few hours after the Newcastle Disease is administered by inhaling through a nebulizer, the patient receives injections of newly cultured dendritic cells. Clinical findings indicate that the use of Newcastle Disease virus destroys cancer cells and also leads to overall better immune response.

A three-step protocol is used to counter the ability of cancer cells to avoid detection by the immune system:

Weakening the cancer cells—On the day of treatment, an IV injection is provided in the morning containing the Newcastle disease virus. Many of the cancer cells immediately become infected by the virus, weaken and eventually die in 3 to 4 days through cell death (apoptosis).
Targeting the immune response—Six hours later, dendritic cells are administered. Because the cancer cells have been weakened by the virus, the dendritic cells can easily recognize the sick and dying malignant cells. The dendritic cells recruit and target T-cells and NK-cells in an attack on the cancer.
Launching a broad-based response —Fever therapy is also provided at this time to launch a more generalized immune response, calling up not only T-cells but also immune signaling chemicals and a broader immune response.

Gorter Protocol—Newcastle Disease Virus

At the Medical Center Cologne, the Newcastle disease virus is used to treat more aggressive forms of cancer, sometimes as preparative support for dendritic cell therapy.

The early literature on viral therapy was based on case reports of temporary improvement in cancer patients following viral infections or vaccinations. Initial experiments with the virus were conducted in the lab on cell cultures iv and the ability of the virus to destroy cancer cells was also confirmed in animal models.iv

Newcastle disease virus has been studied extensively in Germany, and also in Canada, China, and the U.K. In the U.S., the virus has been studied at Emory University Medical School, NYU School of Medicine, and several other medical centers.

Approximately 30 clinical trials have been conducted with cancer patients using this virus, with exceptionally positive survival rates. However, because the virus cannot be patented, pharmaceutical companies have had little interest in research or development.

At the time of this writing, there has been a new wave of interest in oncolytic viruses, possibly based on the potential for a commercial vaccine using altered genetic material (recombinant DNA—literally genes which have been “re-combined”). Currently there are almost 1,000 scientific articles on the Newcastle disease virus, with approximately 100 of the articles published in the past three years.

This surge of scientific literature focuses on the how the virus works, its physiology, and genetics, as well as studies conducted in the lab, with animals, and in human patients.

In 1965, Cassell and Garrett were the first to use live Newcastle disease virus to treat human cancers. Research in this area took on additional importance in 1968 when a poultry farmer who suffered from metastatic gastric cancer exhibited a spectacular recovery after exposure to the poultry virus.

Following these reports, researchers began employing a strain of the Newcastle disease virus to treat human malignancies, and this viral strain has been found to be effective even in the treatment of advanced cancers.

Researchers consistently report that the vaccine is well-tolerated with rare incidence of toxicity. Minimal temporary side effects are primarily localized inflammation or mild flu-like symptoms with fevers of up to 38 C (101 F).

The vaccine produces a positive immune response in 70% to 100% of patients testedxiv

There are primary two means by which viruses destroy their host cells by inducing lysis as the cell wall of the tumor break down due to replication of the virus and by programmed cell death (apoptosis) in which cells are destroyed without toxicity to surrounding cells.

Activity observed by researchers included

T-cells “loaded” with the Newcastle disease virus targeted and destroyed tumor tissue
Increased activity by NK cells
Promoted strong production of interferon in healthy cells, which protected them against the virus

Stage II and III cancers—Equally impressive are the improved survival rates for patients treated with NDV for a range of cancers, particularly for patients treated in Stage II or III:

Melanoma, Stage II—10 years after treatment, over 60% of the 83 patients were alive and free of disease, compared with a typical survival rate of 33%
Melanoma, Stage III—one study reported survival time of 5 to 7 years. Other research with a 15 year follow-up recorded a 55% survival rate with no adverse effects

Stage IV cancers—For patients with more advanced cancers, the vaccine still offers benefit:

Brain tumors—vaccine patients averaged 60 week survival, and without side effects
Renal cancer—disease-free survival of 21+ months on average was reported in a study of 208 patients
Colon cancer—survival three times the norm was reported for colon cancer patientsx
Colorectal cancer with liver metastasis—at 18 months, approximately 40% of vaccinated patients had stabilized, compared with fewer than 15% of surgically treated patientsx

Advanced cancers—research on a range of advanced cancers showed that more than 50% of those receiving the vaccine stabilized or experienced tumor regression, compared with less than 10% of those in the control groupix

Research on the Newcastle Disease Virus

The early literature on viral therapy was based on case reports of temporary improvement in cancer patients following viral infections or vaccinations.

One important question a patient needs to ask when exploring complementary cancer treatment options such as diet, botanicals, or vitamin infusions is, “Will this potentially support my immune system and health?”

In many cases conventional health professionals are hesitant to answer this question because they may be relatively unfamiliar with the technique. In numerous cases although the research exists, there may be a limited number of double-blind placebo controlled clinical studies.

It is important to be a skeptical and wise consumer of all health care, whether mainstream or complementary, and to consider carefully all claims, including claims that the treatments are not efficacious. We encourage people everywhere to be active participants in their own healing process in collaboration with their physicians and health care providers.

Support Your Own Health

One important question a patient needs to ask: “Will this potentially support my immune system and health?”.

When I began treatment at the Medical Center Cologne, Dr. Gorter evaluated my condition and suggested a two-week course of vaccination with the Newcastle disease virus.

Before we began treatment, they took blood samples. The vaccine was given every day, skipping one day on the weekend. The first week it was administered intravenously. After that it was given by injection and also provided in a little spray, which I inhaled.

We went to Cologne every other day, and took the vaccine home for the second day, where it was administered by a nurse in our city.

I was given the dendritic cells once a month. The first dendritic vaccination was eight days after a series of eight vaccinations with the Newcastle disease virus.

The virus hardly produced any side effects—I’d get a little shivery and feverish, but it wasn't as intense as the cell therapy, which would send me to bed after only half an hour.

The treatment worked and a scan nine months later showed that my liver cancer was in remission and that the lung tumors were stable. Physically I felt great.

The doctors in Rotterdam were amazed and they felt I was now well enough to have surgery to remove the lung tumors. They found that the cancer cells in the first lung had completely died (necrotized).

On the x-rays, you couldn't see that there had ever been a tumor. We were so happy. In the second lung, there were still active tumor cells, although a large part of the tumor had necrotized as well.

But the margins around the surgery were clean, and so were the lymph nodes—and there was no longer active cancer in the other lung or in my liver.

Wim Koosterboer, long-term survivor of end-stage,
metastatic primary liver cancer associated with chronic
hepatitis B virus infection

Patient's Experience at MCC

See what our patients say about their experience with cancer treatment at the Medical Center Cologne.

Additional References—Newcastle Disease Virus

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Reichard KW, Lorence RM, Cascino CJ, Peeples ME,Walter RJ, Fernando MB, Reyes HM, Greager JA:Newcastle disease virus selectively kills human tumor cells. J Surg Res 52: 448^-53, 1992

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Reichard KW, Lorence RM, Katubig BB, Peeples ME, Reyes HM: Retinoic acid enhances killing of neuroblastoma cells by Newcastle disease virus. J Pediatr Surg 28:1221-1225, 1993

Lam KM, Vasconcelos AC, Bickford AA: Apoptosis as a cause of death in chicken embryos inoculated with Newcastle disease virus. Microb Pathol 19: 169-174, 1995

Reichard KW, Lorence RM, Cascino CJ: Selective replica¬tion of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in cancer cells is associated with virus-induced cell fusion. Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res 33: 521, 1992

Webb HE, Gordon Smith CE: Viruses in the treatment of cancer. Lancet 1: 1206-1208, 1970

Driever PH, Rabkin SD (eds): Replication-Competent Viruses for Cancer Therapy. Monographs in Virology. Vol 22. Karger, Basel, 2001 Nemunaitis J: Live viruses in cancer treatment. Oncology 16: 1483-1492, 2002

Nelson NJ: Viruses and cancer. JNatl Cancer Inst 91: 1709, 1999 Csatary LK: Viruses in the treatment of cancer. Lancet 2: 825, 1971 Csatary LK, Moss RW, Beuth I, Torocsik B, Szeberenyi J, Bakacs T: Beneficial treatment of patients with advanced cancer using a Newcastle disease virus vaccine (MTH-68/H).

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Fueyo J, Alemany R, Gomez-Marzano C, Fuller GN, Khan A, Conrad CA, Liu TJ, Jiang H, Lemoine MG Suzuki K, Sawaya R, Curiel DT, Alfred Yung WK, Lang FF: Preclinical characterization of the antiglioma activity of a tropism-enhanced adenovirus targeted to the retinoblastoma pathway. J Ntl Cancer Inst 95: 652-660, 2003

Xue LJ, Jin NY, Gong W, Wang HW, Sun DH, Luo QF, Ge T, Li P. The Effect of Newcastle disease virus on the biological behavior of tumor cells. Xi Bao Yu Fen Zi Mian Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2003 Jan;19(1):29-31.

Csatary LK, Gosztonyi G, Szeberenyi J, Fabian Z, Liszka V, Bodey B, Csatary CM. MTH-68/H oncolytic viral treatment in human high-grade gliomas. J Neurooncol. 2004 Mar-Apr;67(1-2):83-93.

Zaitsev V, von Itzstein M, Groves D, Kiefel M, Takimoto T, Portner A, Taylor G. Second sialic acid binding site in Newcastle disease virus hemagglutinin-neuraminidase: implications for fusion. J Virol. 2004 Apr;78(7):3733-41.

Dolganiuc V, McGinnes L, Luna EJ, Morrison TG. Role of the cytoplasmic domain of the Newcastle disease virus fusion protein in association with lipid rafts. J Virol. 2003 Dec;77(24):12968-7

Bar-Eli N, Giloh H, Schlesinger M, Zakay-Rones Z. Preferential cytotoxic effect of Newcastle disease virus on lymphoma cells. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 1996;122(7):409-15.

Huang Z, Panda A, Elankumaran S, Govindarajan D, Rockemann DD, Samal SK. The hemagglutinin-neuraminidase protein of Newcastle disease virus determines tropism and virulence. J Virol. 2004 Apr;78(8):4176-84.

Fabian Z, Torocsik B, Csatary LK, Kiss K, Szeberenyi J: Induction of apoptosis by a Newcastle disease virus vaccine (MTH-68/H) in PC12 rat phaeochromocytoma cells. Anti-cancer Res 21: 125-136, 2001.

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Schlag P, Manasterski M, Gerneth T, Hohenberger P, Dueck M, Herfarth C, Liebrich W, Schirrmacher V. Active specific immunotherapy with Newcastle-disease-virus-modified autologous tumor cells following resection of liver metastases in colorectal cancer. First evaluation of clinical response of a phase II-trial. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 1992;35(5):325-30.

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Batliwalla FM, Bateman BA, Serrano D, Murray D, Macphail S, Maino VC, Ansel JC, Gregersen PK, Armstrong CA. A 15-year follow-up of AJCC stage III malignant melanoma patients treated postsurgically with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) oncolysate and determination of alterations in the CD8 T cell repertoire. Mol Med. 1998 Dec;4(12):783-94.

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Refrences

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