Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy

This year marks a turning point in cancer, as long-sought efforts to unleash the immune system against tumors are paying off—even if the future remains a question mark.

Immunotherapy by definition

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is also sometimes called biologic therapy or biotherapy. It is treatment that uses certain parts of the immune system to fight diseases such as cancer. This can be done in a couple of ways.

·         Stimulating your own immune system to work harder or smarter to attack cancer cells

·         Giving you immune system components, such as man-made immune system proteins

Immune system what does it means?

The immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease. To function properly, an immune system must detect a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and distinguish them from the organism's own healthy tissue.

It may help to think of your body as a castle. Think of viruses, bacteria, and parasites as hostile, foreign armies that are not normally found in your body. They try to invade your body to use its resources to serve their own purposes, and they can hurt you in the process

Types of Immunotherapy;

The main types of immunotherapy now being used to treat cancer are discussed in the following sections. They include:

·         Monoclonal antibodies: These are man-made versions of immune system proteins. Antibodies can be very useful in treating cancer because they can be designed to attack a very specific part of a cancer cell.

·         Cancer vaccines: Vaccines are substances put into the body to start an immune response against certain diseases. We usually think of them as being given to healthy people to help prevent infections. But some vaccines may help prevent or treat cancer.

·         Non-specific immunotherapies: These treatments boost the immune system in a very general way, but this may still result in more activity against cancer cells.