「Even a town doctor like us could do it.」
J-ARM（hereafter J）：In this interview, we would like to talk with Dr. Ushigusa of Kannai Animal Clinic in Yokohama, who was one of the first hospitals in Japan to introduce immuno-cell therapy into its treatment. Dr. Ushigusa was one of the first in Japan to introduce rapid desensitization therapy for allergic diseases as well as immuno-cell therapy. I would like to talk with you today about this and other topics. Thank you very much for your time.
Dr. Ushigusa（hereafter Ushigusa）：Thank you for your time.
J：First of all, could you tell us how you came to know about immuno-cell therapy?
Ushigusa：It all started with a relative’s illness. My mother-in-law had a mucosal melanoma in her nasal cavity. I heard about immuno-cell therapy as a maintenance treatment after heavy ion therapy. At that time, I realized that such treatment existed in the field of human medicine. At the same time, I also heard that immuno-cell therapy was being used in the field of veterinary medicine at some universities and that there was a company that handled such treatment.
It was at this time that I received a direct mail from J-ARM. I thought that this kind of advanced treatment was far away from the level of a regular clinic or a doctor in town like us, and that it would be a very high hurdle in terms of technology and cost. I was under the impression, “Oh, there are people doing this kind of thing. But, you know, this is a man’s dream, or whatever you want to call it, and it would be cool to have a lab, or a clean bench or a facility where cells can be cultured, in my hospital! (laughs).
J： I can’t say it out loud, but there are several veterinarian doctors who say that was one of their motivations (laughs).
Ushigusa：I’m sure it was (laughs). (Laughs.) But at the time, I had no idea how much a clean bench would cost. Then, when I found out how much it actually cost to install one through DM, I thought, “Hmmm… not so much. I thought, “Well, that’s not so bad. And I thought, “I can do this. I immediately contacted J-ARM and asked them to send me for training. That was the beginning.
J： I assume that the cases you are actually dealing with at your hospital are mainly cancer cases, but did you have any cases or ideas about the possibility of applying immuno-cell therapy such as activated lymphocytes?
Ushigusa：I did not have a specific case in mind that I wanted to use it for. When I was a practicing physician, there was a time when I dealt exclusively with oncology cases. Since I originally came from a pathology background and was close to diagnosis, I naturally handled an increasing number of cases. The three basic types of cancer treatment are radiation, radiation therapy, and oncology. Since we cannot handle radiation, surgery and anticancer drugs are the two main weapons in our arsenal. At that time, many new anticancer agents and administration methods were introduced from overseas, which I thought were groundbreaking, and I tried them on all kinds of tumors based on the data. We tried them on all kinds of tumors based on the data we had. We had a lot of good results with lymphoma. But for other tumors, such as breast tumors, the response was weak or none at all. Also, even for lymphoma, there are not a few cases where the side effects are all too strong, depending on the condition of the affected animal.
At that time, the only standard treatments we could provide in the hospital were surgery and anticancer drugs. When we presented treatment options to owners, such as surgery or administration of anticancer drugs, there were some animals that could not be treated by the three major treatments, such as those that did not want to undergo anticancer drugs or those that did not want to undergo surgery for their old age. For these animals, there are only supplements such as mushrooms to boost their immunity. I know it’s a comforting thought, but it’s still true.
Another dilemma arises as a therapist when strong side effects occur when anticancer drugs are administered. What am I doing? For example, I believe that adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery for solid tumors such as breast cancer is extremely ineffective, except for a very few tumors. There have been various studies and papers on this in the past, both in animals and in human medicine, and I believe there was a project to verify this in Japan a few years ago: 。。。。 Before we talk about papers, I would like to hear from any clinicians who have experience that anticancer drugs are effective against solid tumors.
「So what other choice do we have?」
J： I was once surprised to hear a highly respected doctor clearly state that there is no anticancer drug that is clearly effective against tumors that have grown to over 1 cubic centimeter.
Ushigusa：I agree with that opinion 100%. Because of this, I thought that if I could start with such a small amount of money, I would build a facility first. Even in the unlikely event that the patients did not accept the cell culture and we did not have a chance to do it, I thought that we could just adjust the anticancer drugs here (laughs).
I am sure this is the experience of many of my colleagues, but there are many times when I see a dog or cat that was given anticancer drugs and almost died, and I think it might have been better if nothing had been done. In fact, there are not so many cases of canine mammary tumors that recur or metastasize and die after surgery in the primary care setting. But at this point in time, the standard of care for us as veterinarians is adjuvant chemotherapy as an option. If we want to do the best we can, and if we administer anticancer drugs after surgery, and if the administration of anticancer drugs causes the patient to get sick, then we have to ask ourselves what other options we have.
There are a variety of things that can be used, but the typical ones are mushrooms, supplements, and other things that (allegedly) increase immune activity. But these “immunotherapies” can be done by anyone, not doctors, oddly enough. If the owners themselves want to do it based on their own judgment, they can. Besides, many of the theories are out of date, and the amounts of effective ingredients are not pure, so there is no way to even take data that might lead to evidence, such as dosage and how much response there was.
Cellular immunotherapy is still an undeveloped area if you go into it, and there are still some uncertainties about its effectiveness, but you can see the theory. In other words, although it is a part of the immune mechanism that has been elucidated by science, it is at least a theory that is ahead of us, so it makes sense to treat patients, and in fact, hospitals around the country are beginning to announce effects that seem to be true. As a therapist, I may not be at ease, but in that sense, I can explain the background of this treatment method to patients without delay when using it. In addition, the safety of the product has been carefully prepared and secured beyond what is necessary. This is a different dimension from supplements. I think it is great that we are able to actually implement this kind of content as part of our treatment.