Cancer immunotherapy is a treatment that “teaches” the immune system to fight the disease itself.
How does immunotherapy work?
- The treatment stimulates the body’s natural defense systems to find and destroy cancer cells.
- Artificial drugs are created that replace damaged components of the immune system, thereby improving its function.
According to the American Cancer Society, over the past few years, tumor immunotherapy has become an integral part of treatment for some cancers. Scientists are researching new drugs and ways to stimulate the immune system.
Doctors distinguish these main types of immunotherapies for cancer:
- Monoclonal antibodies – proteins that are artificially altered to find and destroy cancer cells. Used in chronic lympholeukemia, gastric cancer.
- Checkpoint inhibitors – These drugs make cancer cells visible to the immune system. An example of such a drug is Keytruda (pembrolizumab). See clinics for treatment with Keytruda.
- Anti-cancer vaccines are drugs that work on the principle of flu shots – to induce a rapid immune system response, the patient is injected with substances that are produced by cancer cells. The most common human papillomavirus vaccines can prevent the development of rectal cancer, cervical, throat, vulva, vaginal and penile malignancies.
- Cytokines are protein molecules that stimulate the activity of the immune system and blood cells to fight cancer. They are prescribed for kidney tumors, metastatic melanoma, and, in some cases, to ease the side effects of chemotherapy.
Who would benefit from immunotherapy treatment for cancer?
Experts at the U.S. National Cancer Institute recommend immunotherapy for more than 100 different cancers in children and adults, including:
- lung cancer;
- breast cancer;
- malignant brain tumors;
- lymphoma;
- colorectal cancer;
- cancer of the stomach and pancreas;
- blood cancers.
How is immunotherapy done?
Depending on the diagnosis and the drug, immunotherapy is administered intravenously in the form of IVs or injections, in the form of tablets, cream that is rubbed into the skin or injected into the bladder through a catheter.
Some medications need to be taken continuously for a certain period of time, while others need to be taken in courses of several weeks or months.
Immunotherapy for lung cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved immunotherapy for the treatment of lung cancer in 2015. Over the following years, a number of studies were conducted on this therapy, which proved its effectiveness both on its own and in combination with other techniques. As a result, the FDA approved the use of immunotherapies even as a first-line treatment for lung cancer.
According to studies, after using immunotherapy, 25 patients with stage 3-4 lung cancer out of 100 live 5 years. By comparison, without immunosuppressive drugs, only 6 people pass this milestone.
Immunotherapy for breast cancer
For a long time doctors considered immunotherapy in breast cancer as insufficiently effective. But new research in the field is proving that the method still has potential.
In March 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the substance atezolizumab (Tecenric), which is a checkpoint inhibitor for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer with metastases.
