Immunotherapy- an introduction
Immunotherapy, a method of fortifying the body’s immune system, has found its place in cancer treatment and can be harnessed both in preventing and curing cancer.
What is Immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy, simply a combination of “immune” and “therapy” can mean the enhancement of the body’s immune system for the purpose of successfully treating a disease. Through the activity of either increasing immunity ( activation immunotherapy) or the activity of lowering the alertness of the immune system to become less violent (suppression immunotherapy), whichever the procedure employed, immunotherapy has been successfully used to prevent and cure cancer.
Breakthroughs in Immunotherapy: What is the Success Rate of Immunotherapy?
Absolutely mind blowing positive results have been recorded in the use of immunotherapy to cure cancer since 1976 to date. Two of them are discussed below:
The 2018 breakthrough where Dr. Susan Kaech activated the CD40 pathway in a rare kind of dual treatment procedure. She was able to use this to decrease the number of immunosuppressive macrophages and thus increase active anti-tumor macrophages. Win-win results. Another breakthrough was in 2002 where in a project funded by the CRI, Dr. Cassian Yee demonstrated successfully that it was possible to remove the immune cells of a melanoma patient. These cells will then be enhanced and used to fight cancer.
How does Immunotherapy work against Cancer?
How is immunotherapy being used against cancer? It’s basically in any of two ways:
- The therapy procedure stimulates the immune system to seek and destroy cancer cells more
efficiently, or; - Lab preparations of immune components are carried out and used to boost the immune system- all to
improve efficiency too.Because it is really hard for a normal immune system to track down and destroy cancer cells, owing to the fact that cancer cells were once normal body cells, immunotherapy is a technique designed to counter the stealthiness (in a manner of speaking) of those cancer cells and track them down. The body which would normally fight them slowly or not even recognize them because they are masters of disguise is then able to recognize and point them out as foreign, and will then get to the best part- destruction mode.
Is Immunotherapy Painful?
No. Immunotherapy could make you feel sick at the early stage of your therapy but it cannot be said to be painful. It has less harmful side effects and the procedure is easier to manage.
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