Ella Lemelbaum Institute for Immuno-Oncology

Sheba is one of the few hospitals worldwide to offer innovative TIL (Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes) immunotherapy as a treatment for patients with metastatic melanoma. This type of cellular immunotherapy involves drastically increasing the number of elite cancer-killing lymphocytes in your body that target and attack malignant cells.

This drug blocks specific proteins that are produced by some types of immune system cells, such as T-cells and certain cancer cells. The function of these proteins is to help control the body’s immune responses, such as by preventing T-cells from attacking cancer cells. Therefore, by blocking particular proteins, the T-cells and immune system can destroy cancer cells more efficiently. We offer treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors to help treat melanoma and skin cancer.

Surgical removal of the cancerous tissue (such as a mole) is the primary treatment for early-stage melanoma. If melanoma has spread to lymph nodes in surrounding tissues, surgery may also be performed to remove the affected nodes.

Chemotherapy drugs to destroy cancer cells can be administered intravenously or with oral pills.

High-powered energy beams are used to destroy cancer cells. Radiotherapy is sometimes used after surgery or to alleviate melanoma symptoms when the disease has spread to other parts of the body.

Also known as biological therapy, specialized drugs are used to target specific vulnerable parts of the cancer cells. Approximately half of melanomas carry particular mutations that can be suppressed by targeted therapy drugs, preventing the cancer cells from multiplying.

A gut microbiome is the totality of microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi, and their collective genetic material present in each person’s gastrointestinal tract. Recently, scientists discovered that the microbiome works closely with the immune system so that a change in the flora of the bacteria has an effect on the body’s immune response to many health conditions, including treatments for oncological diseases. By eradicating the microbiota of a melanoma patient who is unresponsive to immunotherapies and replacing it with bacteria taken from melanoma patients who have responded to the treatment, through the use of a fecal transplantation, this procedure can significantly improve a patient’s body’s responsiveness to immunotherapy.

The innovative Immunophoresis approach uses a special filter to remove specific immune-suppressive cytokines produced by cancer tumors. Selective removal of these targeted cytokines is intended to neutralize the cancer’s ability to block natural immune defense mechanisms, which are significantly compromised during late-stage, metastatic cancer. In this manner, the treatment re-energizes the immune system to aggressively fight the malignancy. An added benefit lies in the relative lack of side effects or detrimental impact on quality of life typical of other cancer treatments.