Quick Facts about Immunotherapy for Cancer-Understanding Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy as a treatment for cancer has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. Still a newbie in the cancer fighting scene compared to the other alternatives, a lot of research has gone on and is still ongoing about different aspects of immunotherapy. Read on to grasp the important facts about immunotherapy and how it works. What is Immunotherapy?Immunotherapy is a new type of cancer treatment that fights cancer by boosting the patient’s immune system. The treatment method uses the inbuilt system in the body for fighting diseases to attack cancerous cells. All it does is to help the system get stronger and smarter so it can root out cancer cells better. How is immunotherapy different from chemotherapy?Chemotherapy employs a nonspecific destruction of cells, and ends up killing both cancerous and non cancerous cells. This leads to side effects that reduce the quality of life for the patient, as they suffer hair loss, vomiting, fatigue, etc. Immunotherapy on the other hand is quite specific. The immunotherapy agents boost the immune system and help make it stronger. As a result, the immune system is better able to identify cancerous cells and destroy just them. Which patients receive the most benefit from immunotherapy?Patients suffering from any of the following conditions can expected to have a reasonable level of success with immunotherapy treatment;●non-Hodgkin lymphoma●malignant melanoma●colorectal cancer●chronic lymphocytic leukemia●lung cancer ●breast cancers ●renal cell carcinomaWhat kind of people can’t use immunotherapy?People who suffer from autoimmune conditions like lupus aren’t compatible with immunotherapy treatment. Also, people who have had issues with their liver can’t be admitted for treatment with immunotherapy.What types of cancers are immunotherapy most effective against?Immunotherapy is very effective against cancers and tumors that have mutated a lot. This is why it seems to have a heightened success rate against head and neck cancers, as a lot of them fit the bill. The category of immunotherapy treatments called “checkpoint inhibitors” is the one that works best against head and neck cancers. Success Rate for ImmunotherapyImmunotherapy currently has a 20% success rate, meaning about 80% of patients seeno benefits. Also, there isn’t a way of knowing who will benefit and who won’t. Treating the Side Effects of ImmunotherapyA key part of treatment and management of immunotherapy side effects is consistent monitoring, as this is what gives the best chance for early detection of side effects. Close monitoring of the patient is important so that adverse changes in the health can be easily detected. Also, depending on the treatment, the side effects can be treated in different ways. ●Treatments can be paused to give the immune system a chance to get some balance.●Patients can be given steroids or immunosuppressive antibodies as a quicker way to suppress immune activity. This is particularly useful for patients being treated with checkpoint inhibitors. Combining Immunotherapy with other treatmentsChemotherapy, radiation and surgery are the usual options for cancer treatment, but with the advent of immunotherapy, all this is changing. Now, it is possible and advisable to combine immunotherapy with another treatment, so as to have a higher chance of success. Presently, a number of studies are going on that are testing the use and effectiveness of immunotherapy when combined with other treatments. With more definitive results for such studies will come the chance for better predictability about the chances of success. The Types of Immunotherapy treatments availablePresently, there are 5 categories of immunotherapy treatments available for patients. These 5 categories of drugs can be used to treat over 20 different types of cancer. As at 2017, about 32 different immunotherapy treatments were approved under these 5 categories. 1)Oncolytic VirusesThese are viruses that have been modified to infect cancerous cells and cause them to explode. These “explosions” attract the immune system cells called macrophages that ‘eat’ the remains of the dead cancerous cells. 2)Immune System ModulatorsThis category of immunotherapy drugs aids in the enhancement of the immune system, either generally or by enhancing a specific part of the immune system. 3)Monoclonal AntibodiesMonoclonal antibodies are proteins that act like tags for your immune system, so it is able to identify cancer cells. It’s a bit like giving your immune system targets to aim at. 4)Treatment VaccinesTreatment vaccines help in boosting your immune system’s response to cancer cells5)Immune Checkpoint InhibitorsYour immune system has a natural response that helps to check the activities of your immune system, so it doesn’t get too aggressive