Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that helps your own immune system find and fight cancer cells. Normally, your immune system works to protect you from infections and diseases, but cancer cells can sometimes hide from it or weaken its response. Immunotherapy boosts the immune system, making it stronger and better at attacking cancer.
Unlike chemotherapy, which directly kills cancer cells, immunotherapy trains your body to do the work itself. This can lead to a longer-lasting defense against cancer, sometimes even after treatment stops.
Your immune system is designed to find and destroy harmful invaders like viruses, bacteria, and abnormal cells, including cancer. However, cancer cells can be tricky—they sometimes hide from the immune system or send signals that weaken the body’s natural defenses. Immunotherapy helps the immune system recognize and attack cancer more effectively.
→ Boosting the Immune Response – Some immunotherapies strengthen immune cells so they can better detect and destroy cancer cells.
→ Removing “Brakes” on the Immune System – Normally, the immune system has built-in brakes to prevent attacking healthy cells. Some cancers take advantage of these brakes to avoid being attacked. Immunotherapy can release these brakes, allowing immune cells to go after cancer.
→ Training the Immune System – Certain immunotherapies act like teachers for the immune system, helping it recognize cancer cells more easily and remember them in case they return.
Immunotherapy comes in different forms, each working in a unique way to help your immune system fight cancer. Here are the main types:
→ Checkpoint Inhibitors – Some cancers hide from the immune system by using special proteins called “checkpoints.” Checkpoint inhibitors remove these barriers, allowing immune cells to recognize and attack cancer.
→ CAR T-Cell Therapy – This treatment modifies a patient’s own immune cells (T-cells) in a lab to make them better at finding and killing cancer. The modified cells are then put back into the patient’s body to target cancer directly.
→ Cancer Vaccines – Unlike regular vaccines that prevent infections, cancer vaccines help train the immune system to recognize and fight cancer cells already in the body.
→ Monoclonal Antibodies – These are lab-made immune proteins designed to attach to specific cancer cells, marking them for destruction by the immune system. Some also carry drugs or radiation directly to tumors.
→ Oncolytic Virus Therapy – This approach uses modified viruses that infect and kill cancer cells without harming normal cells. It also helps alert the immune system to attack the tumor.
