Dr. Gary Onik
Providing the best possible treatment of your High Risk or Recurrent Cancer.
The Center for High Risk and Recurrent Cancer is the world leader in the immunotherapy of cancer. Immunotherapy is the forefront of cancer management and offers the hope of potential cure to patients who previously had only palliative options.
"Immunotherapy vaccine has made prostate, pancreatic & others responsive to Immunotherapy."
In 2013 Dr. Onik memorialized his new concept of immunotherapy in a patent application. That initial patent followed by many others covered the creation of an “In Vivo” (created within the patient’s body) cancer vaccine. While cancer immunotherapy has had great successes, it has been limited to certain tumors that respond particularly well to the approach (so called “hot” tumors) . Many cancers are “cold” however and have not been successfully treated using immunotherapy. This includes cancers of the pancreas and prostate. As you will see Dr. Onik’s cancer vaccine has made prostate and pancreatic tumors, as well as many others, responsive to immunotherapy.
Watch the remarkable story of Dr.Onik's successful treatment of his own metastatic prostate cancer.
Concept
In traditional immunotherapy the medications called “check point inhibitors” are given “systemically” (into a patient’s vein). Consequently the patient’s tumors see minimal amounts of the medication and the patient’s normal tissues are exposed to the same
levels of medications as the cancer.
The result of this is that many tumors don’t respond to the treatment and there is a significant risk that the patient’s normal organs can be damaged.
Dr. Onik’s treatment is different. It is directed directly to the patient’s tumor.
The steps include:
- Imaging the tumor, with CT or ultrasound and placing a needle like probe into the tumor.
- Damaging the tumor with the probe releasing tumor proteins (antigens) into the tumor tissue
- The tumor is injected with immunologic medications to rev-up the patient’s immune system
Results
Dr. Onik presented the results of his treatment at the American Association of Cancer Research’ June 2020 meeting. The results showed that more than 40% of patients with metastatic prostate cancer could achieve a complete response after being treated.
Patients with other cancers, such as pancreatic cancer also showed encouraging results. The side effects were more limited than seen with systemic immunotherapy.
