Being diagnosed with cancer can be devastating! Even though medical treatment for some forms of cancer has improved vastly in recent years, advanced-stage cancer is often hard to cure. After all, this is a broad category of illnesses that can begin in nearly any organ or tissue of the body when aberrant cells proliferate out of control, infiltrate nearby areas of the body, or move to other organs. In India, almost 1.5 million cancer patients sought treatment in 2022 alone. 

The most effective cancer treatment options used to be radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery, but new treatment options are emerging, and immunotherapy is one of them! The core idea behind immunotherapy is that our body’s immune system can be modified in specific ways to treat cancer. The best thing is that there are many forms of immunotherapy, and more and more types are being investigated in clinical studies to ascertain their efficacy in treating cancer successfully. 

What is Immunotherapy? 

Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that targets specific immune system components to combat illnesses like cancer. There are two methods for executing cancer therapy immunotherapy. The first one is increasing your immune system's natural defences to make it more effective at identifying and eliminating cancer cells. The second is creating cells in a lab that mimic immune system components and then using them to assist your immune system in detecting and combating cancer cells.

Immunotherapy has grown in importance in the treatment of some cancer types. Certain cancers respond better to immunotherapy than others. Even though immunotherapy can be used as the only treatment for specific cancers, for others, immunotherapy appears to be more effective when combined with other forms of treatment. 

Types of Immunotherapy 

There are many types of immunotherapy for treating cancer, but a person's specific health condition is the main element that determines whether they qualify for immunotherapy treatment. Not all cancers can be treated with immunotherapy; additionally, the duration of therapy varies from person to person. Let's now take a look at the type of immunotherapy used most these days for their efficiency. 

What’s the Difference between Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy? 

There are numerous similarities between immunotherapy and chemotherapy, however, the differences between them are also crucial to understand. 

Immunotherapy	Chemotherapy
The goal of immunotherapy is to increase your immune system's capacity to destroy cancer cells.	The goal of chemotherapy drugs is to directly kill cancerous cells and to stop the proliferation process of cancerous cells.
Your immune system may be stimulated by immunotherapy to fight cancer long after treatment is over.	Once the medications are stopped, chemotherapy is no longer effective.
The effects of immunotherapy on cancer cells may take some time to manifest.	Chemotherapy may have a nearly instantaneous effect on cancer cells when treatment first begins.

PD-1 and PD-L1 Inhibitors (Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Your immune system uses a set of brakes to prevent it from destroying your own healthy cells when it targets intruders like bacteria and viruses. However, this also means your immune response can decrease, and cancer cells keep proliferating without resistance! Immune checkpoint inhibitors are medications that cause these checkpoints to slow down to improve the immune response. 

T cells are our immune cells that contain the checkpoint protein PD-1, which often serves as a kind of off switch to prevent T cells from targeting other cells of our body. When PD-1 binds to a T cell’s PD-L1 protein, a protein found abundantly in some cancerous cells, PD-1 instructs the T cell not to attack the other cells. This process helps the cancer cell evade an immune response. Monoclonal antibodies (immune checkpoint inhibitors) that target either PD-1 or PD-L1 can strengthen the immune system's defenses against cancer cells by blocking this interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1.

Patients go through a test called immunohistochemistry (IHC) to have their PD-L1 levels checked. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) entails examining cancer tissue under a microscope to find out the percentage of PD-L1 cells. 

High levels of PD-L1 (50% or more) may make tumors more responsive to checkpoint inhibitors, and that’s why your doctor will probably suggest an immunotherapy medication as a first line of treatment if you have elevated PD-L1 levels. 

A doctor may suggest chemotherapy concurrently in some cases. However, if your PD-L1 percentage is less than 50%, your doctor would suggest immunotherapy in addition to other treatments. 

Checkpoint inhibitors are quickly emerging as a promising cancer treatment that produces impressive results with little adverse effects, and more than four immune checkpoint inhibitors that target PD-1 and PDL-1 are approved for use. The treatment response has been extremely successful and effective. However, the only downside is that they are only effective against certain cancer types.   

What are the Benefits of Immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy cancer treatment offers a lot of potential advantages when compared to other types of cancer treatments. Remember, no cancer treatment can guarantee that it will work for everyone, and that’s the case for immunotherapy as well. 

These are the most beneficial aspects of using immunotherapy to treat cancer: 

• Destroys a variety of cancer cells and, in many situations, can stop cancers from coming back.

• Boosts your immune system to ensure that it keeps fighting cancer long after therapy is over.

• Help stop the spread of several cancer types.

• Produces less severe side effects than more conventional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. 

Are there Any Side effects of Immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy can cause side effects in some patients. However, they are usually minor and manageable. Even though immunotherapy is meant to support your immune system's attack on cancer cells, sometimes immune cells may accidentally target healthy cells, therefore causing side effects. This is called an immune-related adverse event, or irAE, and it occurs in around 20% of immunotherapy patients.  If you have an autoimmune condition or are using a combination of immunotherapy medications, you are more likely to encounter side effects. 

The most common side effects that immunotherapy patients experience are fatigue, rash, vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. Some patients may also experience a decreased level of thyroid hormone. Remember, any side effects you observe throughout the immunotherapy course should be reported to your physician, no matter how minor they are.

Final Remarks 

Immunotherapy increases your immune system's capacity to identify and eliminate malignant cells, and if conventional therapies have failed, your doctor could then suggest immunotherapy for your treatment. One thing to remember is that even though many types of cancer can be effectively treated with immunotherapy, not all types can. Only a cancer specialist can determine whether immunotherapy is a good treatment course for you after checking all your medical reports and records. 

If you have been recently diagnosed with cancer and are wondering about treatment options, then visit your nearest super-specialty hospital as soon as possible!

FAQs

1. What types of cancer can be treated with immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy is used to treat various cancers, including melanoma, lung cancer, kidney cancer, and certain types of leukemia and lymphoma.

2. Are there any side effects of immunotherapy?

Yes, side effects can include fatigue, skin reactions, flu-like symptoms, and, in some cases, inflammation of healthy tissues. However, these vary depending on the treatment and individual.

3. How is immunotherapy administered?

Immunotherapy can be given through injections, pills, or intravenously, depending on the specific treatment and cancer type.

4. Is immunotherapy suitable for everyone?

Not all patients are suitable candidates for immunotherapy. It depends on the type and stage of cancer, as well as individual health conditions and previous treatments.

5. How long does immunotherapy treatment last?

The duration varies widely; some treatments are given over several weeks or months, while others may continue for years, depending on the patient's response and the type of cancer.

Citations

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