Coley's Toxins Treatment: Immunotherapy for Cancer
Coley’s treatment / Fever treatment is a type of immunotherapy; which focuses on boosting the immune system, so it can attack cancer cells.
This treatment was developed by a surgeon named William Coley and was inspired by the observation that patients who got infections after surgery did better than those who did not.
Coley attributed this finding to the fact that the infection triggered the immune system to step in and provide additional support. For this treatment, dead bacteria is injected into the vein or directly into the tumor with the aim of creating a high temperature, thus stimulating the immune system which in turn kills cancer cells.
Coley's treatment for cancer
In 1891, William B. Coley administered streptococcal organisms to a patient who had an inoperable tumor.
His hypothesis was that the induced infection would cause the tumor to shrink. His experiment proved successful, marking one of the first instances of immunotherapy.
While serving as the head of the Bone Tumor Service at Memorial Hospital in New York for the subsequent four decades, Coley treated over 1000 cancer patients by injecting them with bacteria or bacterial products.
These substances later became known as Coley's Toxins.
He, along with other physicians utilizing them, reported notable outcomes, particularly in cases of bone and soft-tissue sarcomas.
The Story Behind the Coley's Toxins
The Coley’s vaccine
Coley’s vaccine, also known as Coley’s toxins, is a mixture containing toxins filtered from killed bacteria of species Streptococcus pyogenes and Serratia marcescens in order to induce similar therapeutic effects.
How Coley's Toxins Work to Combat Cancer
Coley’s toxins are usually administered systemically to activate a patient’s immune system; typically shaking chills and fevers.
There is also a simpler and equally promising approach that involves mixing cryopreserved or fresh cancer cells lysates with Coley’s toxins and using such a mixture as an anti-cancer vaccine.
Treatment can be accomplished by injecting Coley’s toxins directly into one or more visible cancer metastases, which turns the existing cancer lesion into its own vaccine.
How immunotherapy has been used to treat cancer
William Coley is generally considered the father of immunotherapy.
Although the link between overwhelming bacterial infections and seemingly spontaneous regression of cancer had already been suspected, Coley was the first one to describe the process of activating a patient’s immune system with bacterial toxins to mimic sepsis induced by live bacteria to treat cancer.
All the way back in 1891, he first noticed that mixtures of live and inactivated Streptococcus pyogenes and Serratia marcescens could cause tumor regression in sarcoma patients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Coley treated his first patient in 1891. By 1893, he had treated ten patients, most of whom did very well. By 1916 he had more than 80 documented cases and the toxins were being widely used by other doctors. Coley’s work remained controversial - some doctors were extremely critcal while others fully fully supported the use of his toxins.
In 1934, The Journal of the American Medical Association reversed its original position and agreed that Coley's Toxin might be of value:
It appears, that undoubtedly the combined toxins of erysipelas and prodigiosus may sometimes play a significant role in preventing or retarding malignant recurrence or metastases; occasionally they may be curative in hopelessly inoperable neoplasms; . . . The Council has, for these reasons, retained Erysipelas and Prodigiosus Toxins-Coley in New and Nonofficial Remedies, with a view to facilitating further studies with the product.
While conventional orthopedic oncologists do not currently use Coley's Toxins for the treatment of bone and soft-tissue sarcomas, the field of immunology, which Coley is often credited as the father of, has developed into a sophisticated specialty. One thing is clear, Coley’s original hypothesis was correct: the immune system can be effective in treating cancer.
It was used to with a variety of cancers, especially sarcomas (a type of cancer affecting bones and soft tissues).
It is not widely used today, but some alternative cancer clinics offer it. Click here for more details
A Phase I clinical trial of a modern, well-defined version of Mixed Bacterial Vaccine (MBV, Coley's Toxins) found that that a modern, well-defined version of Coley's Toxins could be safely administered to cancer patients, with manageable side effects and potential immunological and clinical benefits.
Find a clinic offering Coley’s Toxins Treatment
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