2. INTRODUCTION
âą Immunotherapy is treatment that uses your body's own
immune system to help fight cancer.
âą This can be done in a couple of ways:
ïStimulating your own immune system to work harder or
smarter to attack cancer cells
ïGiving you immune system components, such as man-made
immune system proteins
3. ROLE OF IMMUNE SYSTEM
âą Immune system is a collection of organs (spleen), special cells
(white blood cells), and substances that help protect the body
from infections and some other diseases.
âą The immune system keeps track of all of the substances
normally found in the body. Any new substance that the
immune system doesnât recognize raises an alarm, causing the
immune system to attack it.
4.
5. WHY IMMUNE SYSTEM CANT DETECT
CANCER?
âą Cancer escapes from immune system by:
ï¶ Producing proteins that hide it.
ï¶ Producing signals that stop the immune system from
attacking it.
6. TYPES OF IMMUNOTHERAPY
âą The main types of immunotherapy now being used to treat cancer
include:
1. Monoclonal Antibodies
These are man-made versions of immune system proteins.
Antibodies can be very useful in treating cancer because they can be
designed to attack a very specific part of a cancer cell.
7. TYPES OF IMMUNOTHERAPY
2. Cancer Vaccines
Vaccines are substances put into the body to start an
immune response against certain diseases. Some vaccines are
designed that can help prevent or treat cancer. The vaccines are
made to recognize proteins that are on particular cancer cells.
This helps the immune system to recognize and mount an
attack against those particular cancer cells.
8. TYPES OF IMMUNOTHERAPY
âą 3. Adoptive cell transfer
âą It is a treatment that attempts to boost the natural ability of T
cells to fight cancer. T cells are a type of white blood cells and
part of the immune system.
âą An example of a type of adoptive cell transfer is CAR T-cell
therapy.
9. HOW CAR T-CELL THERAPY WORKS?
âą It uses the bodyâs own immune system to fight cancer.
1. Remove T cells from patients blood.
2. Genetically alter the cells in the lab to make them better able
to find and destroy cancer cells.
3. Inject cells back into the patient.
4. Modified proteins help immune cells find and kill cancer cells.
10. TYPES OF IMMUNOTHERAPY
4. Cytokines
âą These are proteins that are made by our bodyâs cells.
âą They play important roles in the bodyâs normal immune
responses and also in the immune systemâs ability to respond
to cancer.
âą The two main types of cytokines used to treat cancer are called
interferons and interleukins.
12. CANCERS THAT CAN BE TREATED WITH
IMMUNOTHERAPY
âą Immunotherapy can be used to treat cancers of:
ï¶ Lung
ï¶ Kidney
ï¶ Melanoma
ï¶ Bladder
ï¶ Ovary
ï¶ Head and neck
ï¶ Lymphoma
ï¶ Stomach
ï¶ Breast
13. SIDE EFFECTS OF IMMUNOTHERAPY
âą Common side effects of immunotherapy are:
ï§ Rash
ï§ Cough
ï§ Nausea
ï§ Pain in muslces, bones and joints
ï§ Constipation
ï§ Shortness of breath
ï§ Diarrhea
ï§ Decreased Appetite
14. SIDE EFFECTS OF IMMUNOTHERAPY
âą Unique side effects include:
ï§ Inflammation of lung, kidney, intestine, liver and brain.
ï§ Allergic reactions
ï§ Problems of the Thyroid
ïŒ Immunotherapy should not be taken by a women who is
pregnant.
15. How Immunotherapy Is Given?
âą Different forms of immunotherapy may be given in different ways. These
include:
o Intravenous (IV)
The immunotherapy goes directly into a vein.
o Oral
The immunotherapy comes in pills or capsules that you swallow.
o Topical
The immunotherapy comes in a cream that you rub onto your skin. This
type of immunotherapy can be used for very early skin cancer.
o Intravesical
The immunotherapy goes directly into the bladder.
16. RECENT STUDIES ABOUT IMMUNOTHERAPY
âą A compound is developed that when injected into a tumor
destroys it along with all the other cancerous masses present
in the body.
âą Of the 90 mice affected by lymphoma, 87 were cancer-free
after the first treatment, and the last three were rid of cancer
with a second injection of this compound.
âą This treatment is ready for human trials and will be starting
soon.