What we have learnt in the past two decades is that the patient's own autologous immune cells, when combined with conventional treatments such as surgical removal, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, leads to an increase in survival benefits by 30-to-35 percent.

To give a layman's perspective to this explanation of the fight against cancer, I would take the example of eradicating a group of terrorists, who have entered a house. First, we should identify the terrorists inside, with their exact location, although they could still be moving like cancer cells circulating in the blood. Clinically, we use cancer markers, ultrasound, CT scan or MRI to accomplish this. Then once identified and located, we can eradicate them by target bombing, which is like a surgery where some scar would remain and a portion of otherwise normal tissue of the relevant organ is removed. This may render the patient dysfunctional, the extent being proportional to the removed portion of the organ. At times, a chemical gas could be sent to kill the terrorists, which could be compared to chemotherapy, and this may kill the normal cells as well (residents and pets still inside the house could be in jeopardy similar to the normal cells destroyed by chemotherapy).

Now, AIET is like getting the house owners' guard dogs (immune cells), breeding them, training them and sending them back in to the house so that they can sniff the terrorists and their planted bombs (like metastases in case of cancer), destroy them to make the house a safe place without doing any harm to the inmates or the pets, who are the usual residents of the house.

The technology has been brought from Japan after a long track record of clinical application and has been reproduced with the help of local experts in India. Since 2006, NCRM has treated several cancer patients, including those of pancreatic cancer (which was inoperable), ovarian cancer (which had recurred as a stage IV disease), breast cancer with lung metastases, colon cancer with liver metastases. These treatments have been featured in several publications in peer reviewed journals and presentations.

What we have proven is that it is possible to reproduce the high-tech cell culture and tissue engineering work with good manufacturing practices (GMP) compliance in India as done in Japan and that the combining of AIET to the other conventional treatments has yielded to patients, similar safety with no adverse reactions and has improved the outcome both subjective and objective in our Indian experience. We have also learnt that the strength of the immune system is of paramount importance, which when declined, leaves a dent thereby creating an environment that may allow the development of cancer.