CHIPSA Hospital, an integrative cancer treatment center in Tijuana, Mexico recently released their 2019 mid-year review that offers an exclusive look at some of their brand new treatments.
The hospital prides itself on being receptive to all ways of treating cancer, whether considered conventional, “alternative,” or integrative. “The CHIPSA Approach™ has been a simple one,” the hospital said. “Forget our ego and preconceived notions of what works in treating cancer, and be open to all possibilities. This includes considering both natural and man-made medications for the treatment of what is now considered incurable stage 4 cancer.”
CHIPSA reopened its doors in August of 2015 after being closed for two years. Although they kept some of the original staff, they also brought on a group of new doctors and scientists committed to growing alongside the newest scientific developments in cancer treatment. Known as the original Gerson Hospital, CHIPSA has had great success utilizing natural treatments. But as they recently stated, “In many cases, they are simply not enough. We have seen amazing results in patients who adhere to natural therapies, but we simply aren’t satisfied with those results alone.”
To that end, they hired an award-winning oncologist from MD Anderson Cancer Center. While many people questioned why an integrative hospital would bring in an oncologist from the conventional world, for CHIPSA, the move portrayed their willingness to do whatever it takes to solve the challenges cancer brings to the table. “It signaled a change of tide in our relentless pursuit to offer the best treatments possible for our patients,” they said.
What developments has CHIPSA been making in the last year?
Apatone
One major win for CHIPSA in the past year was their ability to offer Apatone to patients all over the world. Apatone is a supplemental combination with the amazing potential to increase the efficacy of chemotherapy without toxic side effects. Some studies have shown this supplement to increase the strength of chemotherapy by over 600%. Although Apatone went through a phase 1 FDA trial in 2006, lack of funds kept it from moving onto the next process for market approval.
After 16 months of working and researching, CHIPSA was able to get Apatone approved as a supplement in Mexico through the distributor UnoMedica.
ValloVax & Immunopheresis Trials
In March, CHIPSA ended its trial with Vallovax. They were able to treat 250 patients at absolutely no cost to them. In the United States, a trial like this would have cost over 25 million dollars.
The ValloVax trial was such a success that CHIPSA was able to offer another trial with a breakthrough cancer treatment device. CHIPSA was the first hospital to host the pre-clinical trial of the device called Immunopheresis. Trials utilizing that device are now ongoing in both Europe and Israel as well. CHIPSA is still offering this trial for triple-negative breast cancer patients.
CHIPSA’s Custom Cellular Therapy Program
CHIPSA has an entire customized cellular therapy program that allows doctors to tailor therapies specifically to treat each patient’s disease.
Coley’s CPG
Their new Coley’s CPG is made of a very strong stimulator of the innate immune system. Data and experience from their 22 years of using Coley’s fluid has allowed them to create a composition that maximizes tumor cell death and increases the immune response.
DC-Max
The hospital also announced their new dendritic cell therapy, DC-Max. The treatment is created from lab-grown dendritic cells that are later re-infused into the patient. The process creates a “danger signal” in the cancer cell and allows the dendritic cell to present the tumor antigen to the t-cell in the hopes of obtaining a lasting, durable remission. The first U.S. FDA-approved dendritic cell therapy is known as Provenge, which came out in 2011. In the U.S., it costs around $94,000 for a three week treatment, so most patients cannot afford to utilize it.
TL-Max
Along with the dendritic cell therapy, CHIPSA also introduced a whole tumor cell therapy called TL-Max. Made from a patient’s individual tumor, this style of lysed therapy is undergoing multiple FDA trials and is already showing great promise. A small piece of a patient’s tumor is taken out along with a blood draw. The laboratory then takes the material and trains the immune system through the blood work to recognize the tumor antigen. The material is then made into a drug that allows the immune system to recognize the tumor antigen, thus attacking the cancer cells in the body. Similar technology will likely be approved in the US in approximately 10 years, but CHIPSA is utilizing the treatment now.
NK-Max
Natural killer cells are currently a great point of interest in many U.S. cancer trials. Unfortunately, we are still several years away from NK-cell-based treatments being approved for use in the U.S. But CHIPSA is taking the technology from studies and turning it into a proprietary product that can support the patient’s immune system into destroying cancer cells. Their product is called NK-Max.
How does NK-Max work?
Natural Killer (NK) cells are the immune system’s first defense against disease and infection. NK cells have an amazing ability to seek out and destroy cancer cells. In the NK-Max therapy, doctors will take a small blood draw and use the patient’s own NK cells in the lab. Once the NK cells are trained and expanded, they are then given back to the patient with a large army of NK cells ready to fight cancer.
CHIPSA’s personalized NK cell therapy is designed to produce a powerful and consistent immune response against cancer. The goal is to maximize the effects of the NK Cell therapy by using it in combination with their whole body healing approach.
AP-Max
AP-Max peptide has also been recently added to CHIPSA’s protocols. This treatment takes two weeks to make and is derived from the patient’s own blood. Peptides are added to the blood and the immune system is primed to create the best possible immune response.
GM-CSF
CHIPSA also offers an FDA-approved immune stimulator called GM-CSF. This differs from G-CSF, as studies show G-CSF tolerates dendritic cells and GM-CSF does not. GMCSF is very difficult to get in the United States, and most oncologists are not familiar with the science, so it is rarely used.
How does CHIPSA combine these innovative therapies with their foundational healing protocols?
CHIPSA’s goal in treating cancer is to utilize what Dr. Polly Matzinger calls “the danger model.” The danger model describes the ways in which cancer interacts with the immune system. When cancer is formed in the body, it can no longer be seen by the immune system unless there is a signal alerting it. This model suggests that any treatments destroying cancer without creating a “danger signal” will likely not be effective.
This is why CHIPSA uses two cytotoxic agents. Both IPT and Apatone create a danger signal that alerts the immune system to the formation of cancer.
CHIPSA then uses immune-stimulating treatments that are only available at their hospital. These treatments include Coley’s CPG, DC-MAX, and AP-Max. Their aim is to cause damage to the cancer cell to maximize the use of their antigen-presenting cells (dendritic cells). When the antigen-presenting cell presents the last tumor antigen to the cytotoxic T cell, patients have the opportunity to gain a lasting remission due to the memory of the T cell.
CHIPSA also continues to use their foundational treatment, the Gerson method, in its enhanced form. Having hired a premium team of nutritionists this year, the hospital is more prepared than ever to maximize the potential of the Gerson healing diet. They have made adjustments to the treatment and now personalize the therapy for every patient.
Diet and detoxification are absolutely essential to the healing protocols at CHIPSA. Some patients have even had success using Gerson therapy as a standalone treatment. But CHIPSA views the therapy as “an amazing adjunct diet for cancer patients that supports the immune system and floods the body with phytochemicals and nutrients.”
Integrative Oncology: The Future of Cancer Treatment
CHIPSA’s innovative approach to treating cancer is gaining momentum everyday.
Although Mexico is often portrayed negatively in the media, CHIPSA believes now more than ever in the potential and promise that the country holds. “Building a bridge to one U.S. oncologist and a small group of scientists working on Apatone was a start,” they said, “but to make great gains, we knew we needed to form great alliances. We believe in a bigger vision. We aim to align our hospital in Mexico with some of the top scientists in the world, fast tracking research and embodying the very meaning of translational medicine.“
Hi my name is Richard. I don’t have cancer but I have Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis & IBS. I was wondering if you have treatment for these diseases. If you can help please contact me.