Immunotherapy is the treatment of cancer by stimulating your immune response to fight cancer cells and infections. You can do it in 2 ways:

• Stimulating your natural immune system, so it can counterattack cancer cells and perish them.

• Develop artificial substances like the immune system and use them to restore your immune system and fight cancer cells.

Immunotherapy has become vital for cancer in the last few decades. It works better for some types of cancer than others.

Immune system

Our immune system consists of numerous antibodies, organs, and immune cells, working together to counter infections and diseases. Our immune system will attack any new substance found in our body because any foreign substance raises the alarm for the immune system.

The immune system finds it tougher to fight cancer cells because immunotherapy cancer develops from normal cells. So our immune system does not recognize those cells as foreign. Sometimes our immune system can recognize cancer cells, but they are not strong enough to perish them.

Researchers have found an effective way to overcome this problem. They boost our defense system to recognize cancer cells and toughen their response to destroy the cells. In this method, our own body will eliminate the cancer cells.

Types of immunotherapies

Different types of therapies available for immunotherapy cancer are as follows.

• Cancer vaccines

Doctors will inject vaccines to stimulate our immune system and strengthen its response to fight against cells and diseases. HPV (Human papillomavirus) vaccine fight against cause anal, cervical, penile, and throat cancer. There is also a vaccine to cure hepatitis B, which causes liver cancer.

• Adoptive cell therapy

Sometimes doctors take out, change, and reintroduce modified immune cells into the person’s body. The new cell responds strongly and destroys cancer cells. T-cell therapy modifies T-cells that fight cancer.

• Monoclonal antibodies

In this immunotherapy, proteins are made in labs, which attack specific parts of cancer cells. These antibodies can also deliver radioactive or toxins material to tumors.

• Immunomodulators

Immunomodulators alter the body’s biological response. They boost the immune system’s ability to search and destroy cancer cells. Treatments include cytokines, inhibitors, interleukins, and interferon.

• Oncolytic viruses

Experts change these viruses in labs. The altered virus infects and perishes the cancer cells.

Process of immunotherapy

It performs as an infusion. At a medical facility, you will get an intravenous infusion into your vein. Sometimes you might have to go with oral or topical immunotherapy.

Time in immunotherapy

Immunotherapy treatment depends on various factors like the type of cancer and its stage, the drug, and your body’s response to treatment. Generally, a person can get immunotherapy daily, weekly, monthly, or cyclic. A cyclic treatment gives your body time to develop healthy cells.

Safety and precautions

Unlike chemotherapy, immunotherapy drugs are relatively newer, so there is not much information about their long-term effects. For precaution, many professionals suggest treating immunotherapy drugs as perilous and taking some precautions.