Immunotherapy In Cancer Treatment

A key factor in the development of tumors is the ability of cancerous cells to evade recognition from the bodies’ natural defense against cancer, the immune system. Immunotherapies effectively block the pathways that shield cancerous cells from being identified, and thus the promote the bodies own anti-tumor response. However, one challenge to immunotherapy has been its combination with chemotherapy, the mainstay of cancer treatment. While chemotherapy is extremely effective in stopping the rapid division of cancerous cells, its toxic immunosuppressive side-effect make it difficult to combine with

The research presented in Jedd D. Wolchok “Cancer’s Off Switch” examines two different forms of immunotherapy used to treat cancer cells by boosting the patient's own immune system defenses. The article provides a comprehensive history of the scientific discoveries and previous research that lead to the immunotherapy treatments, specifically the different levels of the immune system. In addition, the article addresses two different methods of immunotherapy currently in testing in clinical use. The research is educationally significant because it focuses on the body's internal defense system and attempts to disable the brakes cancer cells enforce on the immune system, which has shown progress in both tumor size regression and improvements in

Cancer immunotheraphy is a concept that has been around for centuries. Back in the 1800s, a bone surgeon named William Coley injected his patients with a vaccine consisting of killed bacteria hoping it would stimulate the body's defense system. During the 1990s, physicians treated people with cancer with a cytokine treatment. This treatment involved high amounts of interleuken-2 (IL-2) and interferon-γ (IFNγ), also known as inflammatory cytokines. These inflammatory cytokines were released by white blood cells that fight infection (T cells). However, this treatment can have very dangerous side effects such as vascular leakage and kidney damage, but some people that received the cytokine treatment have lived for decades. In the year of 1996,

In other words, it specifically triggers immune responses pertaining to the mesothelioma malignancy or targets the cancer cells at hand. Active immunotherapy excites an immune response by presenting antigens to the immune system for a response against the malignancy itself. Although the mesothelioma malignancy has a unique set of cells, the tumor does not always produce antigens. This results in the use of an antigen precursor protein called Mesothelin, which allows these antigens to form around the tumor in hopes to specifically target the malignancy site. On the other hand, passive immunotherapy does just the opposite. Passive immunotherapy does not induce an immune response; it simply and directly targets the malignancy by injecting “immune compounds that attack the cancer such as antibodies, cytokines, T cells and macrophages” (Selby). Non-specific immunotherapy injects cells that inhibit the growth of the tumor cells, preventing those cells from constant reproduction. These cells that are injected cooperate directly with the malignancy and are known as cytokines, lymphokine-activated killer cells and macrophages. Immunotherapies such as active, passive and non-specific passive all are becoming effective therapies for mesothelioma and are indicative of improving the patient’s

There are many types of cancer treatment. The types of treatment that a patient receives will depend on the type of cancer that they have and how advanced it is. The main types of treatment are surgery, radiotherapy, hormone therapy, chemotherapy and bone and stem cell transplants.

Each treatment depends on the part of the body, the progression, and the health of the individual. Some general treatments can involve surgery to remove the abnormal cells, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. There are also a long list of medications or drugs to treat cancer as well. There are even people that prefer herbal treatments.

Many times, the treatments are ineffective on the malignant cells, especially if the cancer was not discovered until it was at a more advanced stage. Fortunately, there is constant research being performed to try and find a new way that can either cure cancer or at least slow down the process so that the person with the disease can have more time to live. An example of this is with the latest research that proves that botox has the capability of stopping growths from increasing in size (Sket 2014). Although this does not cure the disease, it does prevent it from growing which in turn will allow the person with cancer to live a little

There are at least 20 immunotherapy clinical trials and studies underway. One of these is at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. Scientists there are now able to grow cancer cells in a lab that they can program for destruction by patients’ immune systems. Nine patients with mesothelioma will initially be treated by this method. If the treatment is successful, more patients will be eligible for treatment next year.

Cancer is a collection of diseases that are caused by the division of abnormal cells that spread to other areas and tissues of the body, growing uncontrollably and forming a mass of tissue called a tumor. It is a genetic disease, causing changes to our genes to control the way cells function, grow, and divide, and can be inherited from our parents as well as resulting from environmental exposures such as UV rays, radiation, and smoking. While there are many successful treatments to help treat and cure different types of cancer, new forms of treatment known collectively as immunotherapy have been discovered to help battle the cancers that do not respond to typical cancer treatment, such as adoptive cell transfer or ACT. In the article Adoptive

It is interesting how cancer is so different than all of the other diseases out there. There are so many different types, lung cancer, breast cancer, leukemia, kidney cancer, etc, and many different types of each of those listed. There is no way that there can be just one cure. It is also peculiar that the body cannot recognize cancer as an invader. It is such an awful disease that has plagued our society. How can our immune system not recognize that it is an invader, when it has such awful repercussions on so many

Immunotherapy is a form of medical treatment intended to stimulate or restore the ability of the immune system to fight infection and disease. This can be by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing an immune response. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while those that reduce or suppress immune response are suppression immunotherapies. Active immunotherapy has been effective against agents that normally cause acute self-limiting infectious disease. However, a more effective immunotherapy for chronic infectious diseases or cancer requires the use of appropriate target antigens; the

Immunization occurs when a person is made resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine. A vaccine stimulates the body’s own immune system to protect a person from an infection or a disease. The vaccines give a small amount of a virus or bacteria that has been weakened or killed. The immune system learns to recognize and attack that virus or bacteria if the person is later exposed to it. Everyone’s immune system is different and not all will generate an adequate response. Because of this he or she will not be immunized from that particular disease.

More recently, scientists have focused on ways to help the body's own immune cells seek and destroy cancer cells.

According to news-medical.net, Immunotherapy is a treatment that is created to give the immune system the ability to fight diseases or infections. Immunotherapy can make the immune system respond to diseases or improve the immune system’s opposition to agile diseases like cancer. Immunotherapy can be called biological therapy and it uses substances that are called biological response modifiers (BRMs). Normally the body makes small quantities of the BRMS so that they can respond to infections or diseases. Large quantities of the BRMs can be produced in the laboratories and they are produced to provide therapy for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and other illnesses.

Our immune system is the second most complex system in our body. It is made up of organs, cells and proteins that work together to protect our bodies from harmful bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms that can cause diseases. Usually we don’t notice our immune system defending us against pathogens, but if the pathogen (harmful microorganism) is aggressive or if our body hasn’t ever come into contact with it, we can get sick. The jobs of our immune system are to recognise pathogens, as well as neutralise and remove them from our body. Our immune system also has to fight our own cells if they have changed due to an illness, for example, cancer. (1)