What is immunotherapy? Well, cancer immunotherapy, also known as immuno-oncology, is a form of cancer treatment that uses the power of the body’s own immune system to prevent, control, and eliminate cancer.
Immunotherapy can:
- Educate the immune system to recognize and attack specific cancer cell🧠
- Boost immune cells to help them eliminate cancer 👊
- Provide the body with additional components to enhance the immune response 💊
Cancer immunotherapy comes in a variety of forms; including targeted antibodies, cancer vaccines, adoptive cell transfer, tumor-infecting viruses, checkpoint inhibitors, cytokines and adjuvants. Immunotherapies are a form of biotherapy (also called biologic therapy or biological response modifier (BRM) therapy) because they use materials from living organisms to fight disease. Some immunotherapy treatments use genetic engineering to enhance immune cells’ cancer-fighting capabilities and may be referred to as gene therapies. Many immunotherapy treatments for preventing, managing, or treating different cancers can also be used in combination with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or targeted therapies to improve their effectiveness.
Unleashing the power of the immune system is a smart way to fight cancer:
- The immune system is precise, so it is possible for it to target cancer cells exclusively while sparing healthy cells. 👍
- The immune system can adapt continuously and dynamically, just like cancer does, so if a tumor manages to escape detection, the immune system can re-evaluate and launch a new attack. 🧐
- The immune system’s “memory” allows it to remember what cancer cells look like, so it can target and eliminate the cancer if it returns. 📝
Immunotherapies have been approved in the United States and elsewhere to treat a variety of cancers and are prescribed to patients by oncologists. These approvals are the result of years of research and testing designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of these treatments. Immunotherapies are also available through clinical trials, which are carefully controlled and monitored studies involving patient volunteers.
Immunotherapy doesn’t always work for every patient, and certain types of immunotherapy are associated with potentially severe but manageable side effects. Scientists are developing ways to determine which patients are likely to respond to treatment and which aren’t. This research is leading to new strategies to expand the number of patients who may potentially benefit from treatment with immunotherapy.
Although scientists haven’t yet mastered all the immune system’s cancer-fighting capabilities, immunotherapy is already helping to extend and save the lives of many cancer patients. Immunotherapy holds the potential to become more precise, more personalized, and more effective than current cancer treatments — and potentially with fewer side effects.
What types of cancers can immunotherapy treat?
Immunotherapy has potential to treat all cancers. ✔
Immunotherapy enhances the immune system’s ability to recognize, target, and eliminate cancer cells, wherever they are in the body, making it a potential universal answer to cancer.
Immunotherapy has been approved in the U.S. and elsewhere as a first-line of treatment for several cancers, and may also be an effective treatment for patients with certain cancers that are resistant to prior treatment. Immunotherapy may be given alone or in combination with other cancer treatments. As of December 2019, the FDA has approved immunotherapies as treatments for nearly 20 cancers as well as cancers with a specific genetic mutation.
Does immunotherapy have any side effects?
Immunotherapy may be accompanied by side effects that differ from those associated with conventional cancer treatments, and side effects may vary depending on the specific immunotherapy used. 💉
In most cases, potential immunotherapy-related side effects can be managed safely as long as the potential side effects are recognized and addressed early.
- Cancer immunotherapy treats the patient — by empowering their immune system — rather than the disease itself like chemotherapy and radiation. Patients may be tested for biomarkers that may indicate whether cancer immunotherapy would be an effective treatment.
- Side effects of immunotherapy may results from stimulation of the immune system and may range from minor inflammation and flu-like symptoms, to major, potentially life-threatening conditions similar to autoimmune disorders.
- Common side effects may include but are not limited to skin reactions, mouth sores, fatigue, nausea, body aches, headaches, and changes in blood pressure.
What if the difference between chemotherapy and Immunotherapy? 🤔
Chemotherapy is a direct form of attack on rapidly-dividing cancer cells, but this can affect other rapidly dividing cells including normal cells. When patients respond, the treatment’s effects happen immediately. These direct effects of chemotherapy, however, last only as long as treatment continues.
Immunotherapy treats the patient’s immune system, activating a stronger immune response or teaching the immune system how to recognize and destroy cancer cells. Immunotherapy may take more time to have an effect, but those effects can persist long after treatment ceases.
My invention 🔨
Using pills and other sorts of digestible medications, the pill will specifically target cancer cells and eliminate them, all in a short process. The pill will go to the immune system, where it will command the cells to kill any cancer cell. The pill will take command of the immune system, and make sure the cells in the body stop multiplying!
