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Immunotherapy
What is Immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy is a cancer therapy that relies on the strength of the immune system to fight and eradicate cancerous cells from the body. As a result, immunotherapy assists the body by enabling the immune system to identify and target cancer cells.
Based on your diagnosis and spread of cancer, your doctor can decide whether immunotherapy should be administered as a single treatment or combined with other cancer treatments such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or surgery. Different forms of immunotherapy exist, such as cancer vaccines, checkpoint inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies. However, certain forms of immunotherapy can be referred to as biological or targeted therapies.
The immune system is designed to safeguard the body from infections or other serious illnesses. It also helps detect cancer but lacks the strength to destroy the cancerous cells. Cancer can develop as a result of the following:
- Cancerous cells emit signals that prevent the immune system from attacking these foreign bodies.
- The cancerous cells can escape or remain undetected by the immune system.
How do you administer immunotherapy medication?
Immunotherapy can be delivered intravenously, via an injection beneath the skin, or through a muscle.The types of immunotherapy work as follows:
- Monoclonal antibodies, or MABs, are synthetic antibodies created in a laboratory designed to function like authentic antibodies. Monoclonal refers to one specific type, meaning MAB therapy is comprised of several copies of a particular antibody. MABs activate the immune system or use the immune system to fight against cancer.
- Checkpoint inhibitors are forms of MAB therapy that suppress cancer cells and heighten the response of the immune system.
- Cancer vaccines identify proteins that form cancer cells, which boosts the immune system's response to cancer.
- Cytokines are a collection of bodily proteins that play a critical role in enhancing the strength of the immune system.
- T-cell therapy alters the genetic material of the white blood cells, also known as the T-cells, to help these cells locate and destroy cancer
What can I expect in terms of my prognosis?
Like chemotherapy, it will take some time for the body to recover from immunotherapy. It's even possible to develop adverse effects from the treatment weeks or months from the time of administration. Suppose you develop any concerning symptoms such as heart palpitations, changes in the colour/texture of the skin or abdominal and chest pain. In that case, you must contact your oncologist as soon as possible.
FAQ
- Coughing
- Constipation
- Poor appetite
- Diarrhoea
- Lethargy
- Flu
Monoclonal antibodies are a targeted drug therapy used to identify proteins the cancer is made of and destroy cancerous cells.
The length of immunotherapy depends on the type and extent of the cancer. Sometimes, immunotherapy can last for two years.