Immunotherapy and Cancer: Things You Need To Know
The immune system plays an important role in protecting our body from diseases like cancer. However, cancer cells sometimes find ways to avoid detection and elimination by the immune system, allowing them to grow and spread. Immunotherapy is an innovative type of cancer treatment that boosts the body’s natural defences to help fight cancer. At Galaxy Care Hospital, the Best Cancer Hospital in Pune, we provide immunotherapy as one of the treatment options for our cancer patients. Here’s a detailed blog to help you understand Immunotherapy and Cancer in detail. Let’s begin!
Relationship Between Cancer And The Immune System
The immune system acts as a surveillance system in our body to identify and destroy unhealthy cells, including cancer cells. Normally, immune cells recognize cancer cells as foreign and eliminate them. However, sometimes cancer cells develop ways to evade detection and attack by immune cells. Cancer cells achieve this through genetic mutations that allow them to downregulate certain antigens, avoid immune checkpoints, or secrete factors that suppress immune cells. This escape from immune surveillance allows cancer cells to proliferate uncontrolled. Immunotherapy aims to reinstate the immune cells’ ability to detect and eliminate cancer cells. The Best Oncologists in Pune recommend Immunotherapy to patients with advanced-stage cancer.
How Does Immunotherapy Work Against Cancer?
Immunotherapy works against cancer in two main ways:
1. Boosting the immune system – Immunotherapy helps boost the body’s natural ability to fight cancer by stimulating specific parts of the immune system. This includes activating T cells and natural killer cells that directly attack cancer cells.
2. Removing blocks in the immune system – Some immunotherapy works by removing barriers that normally prevent the immune system from attacking cancer cells. This includes drugs that target checkpoints that cancer cells use to inhibit the immune response. Removing these blocks restores the immune system’s ability to eliminate tumours.
Difference Between Immunotherapy And Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses drugs to directly kill rapidly dividing cancer cells. While this can be effective, chemotherapy also affects normal cells that divide rapidly and has potential side effects.
Immunotherapy, on the other hand, aims to boost the body’s natural defence mechanisms by activating the immune system against cancer. Immunotherapy is more targeted and sometimes results in fewer severe side effects compared to chemotherapy. While chemotherapy’s effects are immediate, immunotherapy can sometimes take longer to show responses but its effects may be more durable. The Best Cancer Specialist in Pune can suggest which treatment is more suitable for the patient based on the stage, current health, and other key factors.
Types of Immunotherapy For Cancer
The main types of immunotherapy used in cancer treatment include:
• Targeted antibodies – Monoclonal antibodies that identify and bind to specific antigens on tumor cells, activating the immune system against those cells
• Adoptive Cell Therapy- Using the patient’s immune cells that are modified and then reinfused into the patient to mount an anti-tumour response. This includes CAR T cell therapy.
• Oncolytic Virus Therapy- Genetically modified viruses that infect and lyse tumor cells, triggering an immune response against the cancer.
• Cancer Vaccines- Designed to elicit an immune response against tumor antigens to train the immune system to recognize and eliminate cancer cells.
• Immunomodulators- Agents that modulate the immune system to enhance its activity against cancer cells. This includes checkpoint inhibitors and cytokines.
Types of Cancers Treated With Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy has been approved to treat many cancer types, including:
• Lung cancer
• Melanoma
• Bladder cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Head and neck cancer
• Liver cancer
• Blood cancers like lymphoma and myeloma
How Can We Tell If Immunotherapy Is Working?
Determining response to immunotherapy can sometimes be challenging as patients may experience “pseudoprogression” where tumors initially appear to grow larger due to immune cell infiltration before shrinking. Some signs that immunotherapy may be working include:
• Seeing tumor shrinkage on scans after an initial period of stability or growth
• Stabilization of cancer-based on blood markers and clinical exams
• Relief from cancer symptoms
• Development of immune-related adverse events which sometimes correlate with treatment benefit
The Bottom Line
In summary, immunotherapy harnesses the power of a patient’s immune system to fight cancer in a targeted way with durable responses. It offers hope for many patients with different cancer types and represents an exciting frontier in transforming outcomes for people with cancer.
As the Best Cancer Hospital in Pune, Galaxy Care Hospital offers options for immunotherapy. Our team of leading oncologists have extensive expertise in delivering all forms of immunotherapy for cancer patients. Our hospital has advanced facilities and the technology required for treatments. Galaxy Care Hospital ensures the best outcomes for patients undergoing immunotherapy. If you or your loved one is suggested to undergo Immunotherapy, feel free to book an appointment and get the best treatment in Pune.
