Immunotherapy In Cancer Treatment

Exploring the more effective and less dangerous immunotherapy treatment for cancer.

Immunotherapy. Provided by Dreamstime

What Is Immunotherapy? 

Immunotherapy is a cancer treatment that boosts the body’s immune system, enabling it to find and destroy cancer cells efficiently. It is a form of biological therapy, i.e., a type of treatment that uses substances made from living organisms to treat cancer. Immunotherapy is very effective and may help some people affected by certain types of cancer live longer. Medical researchers are, therefore, on a mission to develop new immunotherapy drugs to treat more types of cancer and ensure that they are compatible with patients’ personal requirements. 

How Does Immunotherapy Work Against Cancer?

As a part of its normal function, the immune system is responsible for protecting the body of an individual from allergens and viruses to damaged cells that could become cancerous. Thus, the immune system cautiously detects and destroys any abnormal cells to prevent or curb the growth and spread of many cancers and tumors. Though the immune system can prevent or slow cancer growth, cancer cells are a moving target that has ways to dodge the immune system's defenses and avoid destruction. 

For a more targeted approach to enhance immune function, immunotherapy mainly works in two ways – 

• It trains the immune system so it can do more to find and kill cancer cells. 

• It helps the body produce cancer-fighting immune cells that effectively locate and destroy cancer cells. 

Types Of Immunotherapy 

Immunotherapy can be administered through various oral, intravenous, topical, or intravesical methods. This signifies that there are several types of immunotherapeutic treatment options that one can choose from based on their needs. Some of the types of immunotherapy include –

• Monoclonal Antibodies (MAB) - a targeted cancer drug that helps in marking cancer cells so they can be better seen and destroyed by the immune system. 

• Checkpoint Inhibitors - a type of immunotherapy that blocks different checkpoint proteins and allows the immune system to react strongly against cancer.

• Cytokines (a type of protein that is found naturally) - used to treat a certain group of blood cancers by enhancing the immune response.

• CAR-T Cell Therapy - boosts the natural ability of T-cells to fight cancer and is also known as Adoptive Cell Transfer.

• Treatment Vaccines - different from preventative vaccines and help boost the immune system’s response to cancer cells. 

Advantages Of Immunotherapy 

Immunotherapy may be an effective treatment for cancers that don’t respond to traditional treatment at all or for those that don’t respond to traditional treatment well enough that they recur. It has several advantages when used as a treatment option – 

• Long-term survival rates of patients have been observed to improve with immunotherapeutic treatments since they are persistent and have long effective periods. 

• Immunotherapy produces high accuracy in treatment due to its specificity and targeting.

• It is highly adaptable and can thus be used to control and destroy multiple types of cancer.

• It is a comprehensive treatment that can restore and improve the body’s immune function, fully identify, search, and kill tumor cells, and effectively prevent cancer recurrence and metastasis. 

• If immunotherapeutic treatments are performed thoroughly, they can methodically remove residual tumor cells and microscopic lesions from the body. 

Disadvantages Of Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy doesn’t work on all kinds of cancer and it may not work for every person who receives treatment. Moreover, they also pose the concern of having numerous side effects. Although immunotherapy has significantly fewer side effects than traditional treatment, one can conclude that immunotherapy is not free of disadvantages –  

• Some of the commonly seen side effects of immunotherapy are non-specific and include fatigue, itchy rash, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, decreased thyroid hormone levels, etc. 

• Immunotherapy has limitations in its treatment objects and is highly selective for the users — it might not work for everyone.

• If the cancer is of the “immune suppression type” or “immune exclusion type”, the effect of immunotherapy is poor. 

• The use of checkpoint inhibitors can produce negative regulation leading to autoimmune diseases that might be fatal. 

• It might cause hyperprogressive disease that can accelerate the tumor growth and further,  the death of patients. 

• Many factors can influence the effect of immunotherapy on patients. The survival rates and prognosis of patients are uncertain.

• Immunotherapeutic treatments are expensive and have high costs making them accessible and affordable only to a certain demographic.

Conclusion 

Immunotherapy is a highly effective treatment method for cancer, and has taken precedence in the modern medical and oncological field due to the wide range of benefits it poses. Although it is considered to be low-risk, one has to be aware of the drawbacks of immunotherapy so they can make a learned decision about their treatment. Nonetheless, immunotherapy has shown appreciable results and is a step in the right direction for newer advancements in the treatment of cancer.