A new supplementary treatment has been developed for cancer patients who have undergone chemotherapy, surgery and/or radiotherapy at the Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem.  This treatment, which is only available in Hadassah, is based on the use of lymphocytes (cells of the immune system) obtained from any donor, without the need for matched tissues.  The cells are activated in the laboratory and turned into cancer killing cells.  They are subsequently transfused into the body of the patient through a vein, or a blood vessel that feeds a cancer metastasis, where they are capable of identifying and attacking residual cancer cells in the body that have survived previous treatments.

The treatment is given at the Bone Marrow Transplantation Department's Day Care Unit at Hadassah, without need of hospitalization. At the inauguration of the new Day Care Center, Prof. Shimon Slavin, Head of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Department at Hadassah, said some 4000 patients are treated there every year.

The new Center has been constructed on an extremely high level of services, with wide windows, and emphasis on aesthetic aspects and comfort, with full consideration of the well-being of the patient and his family, and it is adjacent to the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cancer Immunotherapy.  It attracts patients from all over the world, and offers innovative treatments in the area of cell therapy and cancer immunization.

Prof. Slavin stated that utilization of the immune system in the fight against malignant cells sometimes enables patients to overcome malignant disease even after it has metastasized. He stressed that the protocols used today to treat cancer are intelligent rather than more powerful.  In principle, this makes it possible to eliminate malignant processes while conserving the patients' quality of life. In addition, it is possible to attach special antibodies to the cancer killing cells that are able to direct the killer cells (T cells and natural killer (NK) cells) directly to the tumor cells, thereby improving their ability to destroy cancerous cells while lessening the danger of their harming normal cells, "since these guided missiles home onto the cancer cells."  Prof. Slavin is optimistic in regards to the clinical application of these new therapies, especially when the patient is at the stage of residual disease but there is a danger of future recurrence.

The treatment is not included in the 'medication basket', and is given in the framework of the new Day Care Center.