ASPAGNII(TM) – INDIGENEOUS TUMOUR ANTIGEN

Subject: Science & tech

Context: DBT-NII Receives Trademark for India’s First Indigenous Tumour Antigen SPAG9.

Concept:

India’s first indigenous tumour antigen SPAG9 was discovered by Dr Anil Suri in 1998 who is heading the Cancer Research Program at the New Delhi-based National Institute of Immunology (NII), an Autonomous Institute of Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
In a recent development, the SPAG9 antigen has received the trademark ASPAGNIITM.
Currently, ASPAGNIITM is being used in dendritic cell (DC) based immunotherapy in cervical, ovarian cancer and will also be used in breast cancer.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a new approach that exploits the body’s inner capability to put up a fight against cancer.
With this approach, either the immune system is given a boost, or the T cells are “trained’’ to identify recalcitrant cancer cells and kill them.