New Delhi, June 5: The SPAG9 (Sperm Associated Antigen 9) antigen developed by the National Institute of Immunology (NII) has received the ASPAGNII™. India’s first indigenous tumour antigen SPAG9 was discovered in 1988 by Dr. Anil Suri, the present head of the Cancer Research Programme at the NII. ASPAGNII™ is the innovation that is being used in dendritic cells (DC – are a type of antigen-presenting cell (APC) that perform an important role in the adaptive immune system) based immunotherapy in cervical, ovarian, and breast cancer.
Cancer Immunotherapy is giving the immune system a boost to identify the overgrowing cancer cells and kill them. In DC-based vaccine, patient’s cells called Monocytes (a type of white blood cell which helps in fighting infections) from their blood are collected and modified into dendritic cells. These dendritic cells are stimulated with antigen (ASPAGNII™) and are injected into the patient to help the ‘fighter’ cells or T-cells in the body to kill the cancer cells. This is safe, affordable and an indigenous product for cancer treatment.
News inputs from Swasti Sharma.
