Ultrasound

Discovering a new

Immunological Pathway

Diakonos’ DOC1021 protocol was first discovered in 2006 by Dr. Will Decker within the prestigious Texas Medical Center. This research has continued and has ultimately resulted in active clinical trials studying the treatment in a variety of cancer indications.

Serial ultrasound imaging documents radiographic evidence of tumor regression. A. Baseline image at day 0 indicates 6.8 cm mass. B. Day 20 image indicates mass of 1.8 cm. C. Day 30 image indicates mass of 1.0 cm with increased evidence of fibrosis. D. Day 63 image no longer identifiable as a definitive mass.

Dendritic Cell Mechanistic Understanding

Th-1 Polarization is Regulated by Dendritic Cell Comparison of MHC Class I and Class II Antigens. Decker WK, Xing D, Li S, et al. Blood. Published January 2009.
This landmark study found that dendritic cells possess a novel intrinsic mechanism vital for effective immunity. It allows the dendritic cell to simultaneously ‘sense’ the internal and external cellular environments to determine the necessity of a Th1 Killer T cell response (the type of immune response required to eliminate viruses and cancers).

 

Halpert MM, Konduri V, Liang D, et al. MHC class I and II peptide homology regulates the cellular immune response. FASEB. Published April 2020.
This seminal paper builds upon earlier works, including Decker et al. (2009), demonstrating that the powerful Th1 immune response is intricately regulated by specific amino acid sequences bound simultaneously to both MHC Class I and II. The sequences must entirely match, and a change in just a few amino acids, which disrupts the ‘100% overlap,’ eliminates the response entirely, signifying the fine-tuned nature of this biological phenomenon.

 

Konduri V, Li D, Halpert MM, et al. Chemo-immunotherapy mediates durable cure of orthotopic KrasG12D/p53-/- pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Oncoimmunology. Published July 2016.
Building on previous research, this study reveals “double-loaded” Dendritic Cells can target a broad array of subjects, irrespective of their nature or location. Additionally, this study demonstrates that this form of immunotherapy can effectively integrate with standard cancer treatments, like chemotherapy, producing target-specific results that significantly improve treatment outcomes.

Additional Pre-Clinical Validation

Dendritic cell vaccination plus low-dose Doxorubicin for the treatment of spontaneous canine hemangiosarcoma. Konduri V*, Halpert MM*, et al. Cancer Gene Therapy. Published January 2019.

This canine trial was focused on extrapolating the results of the powerful Th1- empowered Diakonos Dendritic Cells from the lab to the clinic in real-world cases and attempted to overcome the most aggressive cancer simply known to exist – canine splenic hemangiosarcoma (median survival of 48 days). Though not every dog was “cured,” 40% showed significant improvement including an example of long-term remission with no cancer identified at time of autopsy (death due to old age).