Immunotherapy is a cancer treatment that helps your immune system fight cancer. It is a kind of biological therapy, which uses substances made from living organisms, or lab-made versions of them.
When it is used
It is used less often than surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, and not for every cancer; responses vary, and your provider will monitor you closely. It is used for some cancers, and clinical trials are testing it on others.
How it works
Normally the body makes new cells as needed to replace old ones that die. In cancer, some cells multiply without stopping, old cells don't die when they should, and the cells spread into nearby tissue. One reason cancer keeps growing is that it can hide from the immune system.
- Some immunotherapies "mark" cancer cells so the immune system can find and destroy them — a kind of targeted therapy, attacking specific cancer cells with less harm to normal ones.
- Others boost the immune system so it works better against cancer.
How it is given
- By IV, as pills or capsules, or as a skin cream — or, for bladder cancer, placed directly into the bladder.
- How often and how long depend on the type and stage of cancer, the kind of immunotherapy, and how well it works: it may be daily, weekly or monthly, and some treatments run in cycles so the body can rest and recover.
Side effects
The most common, with IV treatment, is a skin reaction where the needle goes in. Others include flu-like symptoms and, rarely, severe reactions.
Sources
- "Cancer Immunotherapy," MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, drawing on the National Cancer Institute (NIH). https://medlineplus.gov/cancerimmunotherapy.html
- Rewritten in hubnx's own words.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from medlineplus.gov
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