What is immunotherapy? Drug and method + side effects of immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a cancer treatment method that strengthens the body's immune system to fight cancer cells.. This method is currently effective in the treatment of various cancers.. For this reason, it has been able to give new hope to patients who have not received an adequate response from conventional treatments.... Immunotherapy is usually used alone or together with chemotherapy and other cancer treatment methods.. Cell inhibitors
- Cancer immunotherapy Kidney
- Lung cancer immunotherapy
- Liver cancer immunotherapy
- Bladder cancer immunotherapy
- Blood cancer immunotherapy
- Stomach cancer immunotherapy
- Bowel cancer immunotherapy
- Cancer immunotherapy Melanoma
- Breast cancer immunotherapy
- Uterine cancer immunotherapy
- Prostate cancer immunotherapy
- Allergy immunotherapy
- Immunotherapy warts
What is immunotherapy or immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy or immunotherapy is a pioneering method of cancer treatment that uses the body's immune system to destroy cancer cells... In fact, unlike chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which directly target cancer cells, immunotherapy focuses on boosting the body's immune system to fight cancer cells.
The body's immune system naturally protects the body against foreign agents such as viruses, bacteria and abnormal cells like a ready army.. In fact, the body's defense mechanism has specialized cells that are adept at identifying and destroying abnormal and malignant cells... but because cancer cells are constantly evolving, they may not be recognized by the cancer system to attack the body's best cells... them.
How is immunotherapy performed?
Now that you know what immunotherapy or immunotherapy is, it's good to know the types of it for cancer treatment.... Immunotherapy has different approaches to fight cancer, including the following:
Safety Review Inhibitors
The body's immune system naturally has compounds to prevent it from attacking healthy tissues. Cancer cells normally use these compounds to avoid detection and attack. By removing these compounds, immune checkpoint inhibitors allow the immune system to attack cancer cells.
Cell therapy
Cell therapy or T cell transfer is one of the various methods of immunotherapy.. In this method, the ability of T cells to destroy cancer cells is used.. The doctor extracts T cells from the patient's body.Monoclonal antibody therapy is another type of immunotherapy that is made in a lab....These antibodies bind to a specific protein on cancer cells and activate the immune system to attack them to stop their growth...Today, this type of immunotherapy is used to treat cancers such as breast, colon, and lymphoma....Some experts believe that monoclonal antibody therapy is because which is a more targeted and accurate approach than chemotherapy, which has fewer side effects.
Cancer vaccine
Cancer vaccines take a different approach than conventional vaccines... These vaccines are designed to stimulate the immune system against tumor antigens... In fact, the cancer vaccine prepares the body's immune system to identify and target cancer cells and is an effective way to prevent and treat cancer.
Immunotherapy method in cancer treatment
The method of performing immunotherapy can be different depending on the type of cancer and the goal of treatment... below we introduce the common methods:
- Intravenous immunotherapy: The immunotherapy ampoule is injected directly into the vein.
- Oral immunotherapy: It is given to the patient in the form of capsules or tablets.
- Local immunotherapy: It is used as a cream on the skin.
- Intravesical immunotherapy: directly enters the bladder.
Make an in-person and online appointment with the best hematologist in Tehran
Make an appointment with a doctor without the need to visit in personList of immunotherapy drugs
Immunotherapy helps the body's immune system recognize and attack cancer cells... cells that can sometimes hide from the immune system's cells or weaken the body's natural immune responses.
In the following, we introduce the most common cancer immunotherapy drugs approved by the FDA:
- Avelumab
- Nilumab
- Pomalidomide Atezolizumab
- Ipilimumab
- Dorvalumab
- Cemiplimab
Which cancers does immunotherapy treat?
Immunotherapy has the potential to treat all cancers, but its effectiveness may be influenced by various parameters.... In the following, we examine the effect of immunotherapy in the treatment of various cancers:
Kidney cancer immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is one of the most effective methods for treating kidney cancer, especially renal cell carcinoma.. In the treatment of this cancer, doctors usually use 2 groups of immune drugs: cytokines and immune inhibitors... They fight kidney cancer cells.
Lung cancer immunotherapy
On average, immunotherapy cures lung cancer in 20 to 50% of lung cancer cases. In the treatment of lung cancer, drugs that inhibit the immune system are usually used. These drugs are likened to the brakes of the immune system. Atezolizumab and checkpoint inhibitors are a stable method, but usually combined with chemotherapy.
Immunotherapy of liver cancer
Liver cancer is usually diagnosed in advanced stages... so it is resistant to conventional treatments... The use of immunotherapy in liver cancer has created new hope for the treatment of this disease in the hearts of patients... Currently, immunotherapy drugs, especially immunotic point inhibitors such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab, have been able to improve patient survival... Also, the combination of immunotherapy drugs such as bevacizumab and Atezolizumab is effective in the treatment of advanced liver cancer and shows good results in controlling its growth.
Immunotherapy of bladder cancer
Immunotherapy is an effective treatment method for bladder cancer.... In this method, the patient's immune system is strengthened to fight cancer cells.... In bladder cancer immunotherapy, drugs such as Atezolizumab and Pembrolizumab are used, which block the escape routes of cancer cells from the immune system and increase the ability of cancer cells to identify and destroy immune cells>..
Immunotherapy Leukemia
Cell therapy is one of the immunotherapy methods of treating leukemia that has been very successful so far.... In this method, T cells are taken from the patient's body and modified in a laboratory environment to increase their ability to destroy blood cancer cells. Based on individual conditions.
Make an in-person and online appointment with the best blood cancer doctor
Make an appointment with a doctor without the need to visit in personImmunotherapy of gastric cancer
In stomach cancer, immunotherapy plays an important role in restoring the immune system's ability to identify cancer cells. This treatment, which is usually done with drugs such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab, is used in advanced stages of the disease... For people with advanced stomach cancer, the doctor prescribes these two drugs as the first line of stomach cancer treatment along with chemotherapy.
Intestinal cancer immunotherapy
Researchers are optimistic about the effectiveness of immunotherapy drugs such as pembrolizumab and nivolumab in the treatment of colon cancer and believe that these drugs will lead to long-term control of the disease. However, this treatment method is not effective alone, and research on its combination with chemotherapy and radiation therapy is currently ongoing.
Immunotherapy of melanoma cancer
Melanoma, which is a type of skin cancer, has so far responded well to immunotherapy.... This method, by activating the immune system, identifies cancer cells and in many cases leads to their long-term control.... Melanoma cancer immunotherapy is usually done with drugs such as pembrolizumab and nivolumab.
Immunotherapy of breast cancer
At present, immunotherapy has given a good response to metastatic or advanced triple-negative breast cancer. Doctors usually prescribe drugs such as pembrolizumab and atezolizumab to destroy these types of breast cancer cells and prevent their growth and proliferation. Of course, the latest research conducted in 2021 on this drug has declared its curative effect for atezolizumab breast cancer.Cancer immunotherapy womb
Uterine cancer immunotherapy is an effective method for patients whose disease recurs after chemotherapy... The 2 main drugs used for uterine cancer, endometrial carcinoma and uterine sarcoma include pembrolizumab and dostarlimab.. These drugs help a person's immune system to better recognize uterine cancer cells and attack them.
Immunotherapy of prostate cancer
In prostate cancer, immunotherapy helps the body to reduce the progression of the disease by stimulating immune responses against tumor cells... This method, which is usually performed with the drug pembrolizumab, is mostly used in advanced stages of the disease and in metastatic cases and can improve the quality of life of patients.
Does immunotherapy cause hair loss?
Hair loss is one of the common side effects of chemotherapy.. because chemotherapy drugs quickly attack the body's cells and destroy them.... Immunotherapy does not directly attack cancer cells, but destroys them by strengthening the body's immune system.... Therefore, side effects of immunotherapy often include fatigue, skin inflammation, and in some cases, gastrointestinal upset.. About this.
What are the uses of immunotherapy or immunotherapy drugs other than cancer treatment?
Immunotherapy is not only limited to the treatment of cancer, but is also used in other medical fields. Doctors use this method to modulate the abnormal reaction of the immune system.
Allergy immunotherapy
Allergy immunotherapy is a method in which the body is gradually exposed to controlled doses of the allergen (the same substance it is allergic to). This makes the immune system gradually resistant to the allergen and severe allergic reactions are reduced. It is done under the supervision of a specialist doctor.
Immunotherapy of warts
Immunotherapy for HPV is a new treatment method that strengthens the body's immune system to fight the virus. Some types of warts, such as genital warts caused by the HPV virus, do not respond to conventional treatments. In these cases, immunotherapy is used to boost the body's immune system and target HPV-infected cells.
What are the side effects of immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy can be associated with side effects like other cancer treatment methods... These side effects may vary depending on the drugs used and the individual's condition... The most common side effects of immunotherapy include the following:
- General fatigue and weakness
- Skin sensitivity such as itching, redness, inflammation and skin rash Digestive problems such as diarrhea, nausea and vomiting
- Influenza symptoms such as fever, chills and cough
- Muscle pain
- shortness of breath
- Increase or decrease in blood pressure
- Change in thyroid function
- Headache and dizziness
- Inflammation of the body
In most cases, the doctor can control these side effects with drugs that regulate the immune system... So if you are using immunotherapy drugs and you experience the above symptoms, be sure to consult an online oncology doctor.
Are there immunotherapy drugs in Iran?
Currently, most immunotherapy drugs are not approved in Iran... One of the drugs approved in Iran and used by specialists is Keytruda...
The best cancer immunotherapy centers in Iran
Despite the remarkable progress of immunotherapy in Iran, there are still not many specialized centers in this method... but fortunately, the number of hospitals and centers that gradually offer this new method of cancer treatment along with chemotherapy and radiation therapy is increasing... In the following, we introduce some active hospitals in Tehran:
- Imam Khomeini Hospital
- Valiasr Hospital
- Mesih Dunyari Hospital
- Children's Medical Center Hospital
Comparison of immunotherapy and chemotherapy
The difference between immunotherapy and chemotherapy is in the way they work.. In chemotherapy, drugs are used that directly target cancer cells and destroy them.. In addition to cancer cells, these drugs may also affect healthy cells to some extent and cause more severe side effects.. Long term, but it is more durable.
Is definitive cancer treatment possible with immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy has made significant progress in recent years and has been able to treat and control the disease in some types of cancer.. This result shows that immunotherapy can be very effective in the treatment of some cancers and increase the patient's quality of life.. but still it cannot be said that this method is considered a definitive treatment for all cancers.. The reason for the final decision of the doctor on using immunotherapy is
Guide to see a doctor
Immunotherapy or immunotherapy is one of the new methods of cancer treatment in which the body's immune system is strengthened to better identify and destroy cancer cells. This method has fewer complications than other common methods such as chemotherapy and in many cases can improve the patient's quality of life.
In this article from GCORP LLC magazine, we examined in detail what immunotherapy is for and what side effects it has... Of course, these materials are only provided to familiarize you with immunotherapy for cancer treatment, and ultimately your treating physician must make the final decision to choose the treatment method..
Frequently Asked Questions
It is a new method of cancer treatment that strengthens the immune system to better identify and destroy cancer cells.
Hair loss is not a common side effect of immunotherapy and usually occurs during treatment with this The method
rarely happens..Chemotherapy drugs directly affect cancer cells, and because they cannot distinguish healthy cells from unhealthy cells, they may cause damage to healthy cells....while immunotherapy drugs boost the body's immune system to better recognize cancer cells. give and attack them.. with asthma caused by allergies; Because by reducing the body's sensitivity to allergens, it can reduce the severity of symptoms.
Resources: Health Cancer webmd | cancerous | Cancer
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