Immunotherapy Treatment Explained: Meaning and Types

Immunotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses your body's immune system to attack and fight cancer cells. Various types of immunotherapy exist, but all immunotherapies train your immune system to fight cancer.

Understanding about an effective Immunotherapy cancer treatment in Ahmedabad, its types and how it works against cancer will enable you to make informed decisions about your care.

Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that boosts your immune system to fight cancer cells. Significantly, your immune system protects you from invaders such as germs, allergens, and cancer cells. 

It carries such immune cells that constantly look after your body, and kill invaders that pose a threat. However, cancer cells can evade the defenses of your immune system. 

Moreover, immunotherapy trains your immune system to find and kill multiple cancer cells by boosting the production of cancer-fighting immune cells. Primarily, it uses substances made by the body or in the lab to stimulate the immune system, or lab-made substances that act as natural immune cells. 

Furthermore, it is vital to explore different types of cancer immunotherapy.

These assist T cells in the immune system to fight cancer for longer. These T cells are very powerful cells that sometimes can even damage healthy cells. To tackle this, checkpoint proteins regulate T-cell signals to T cells, turning them on and off like a power switch to attack cancer cells while keeping healthy cells safe. 

This therapy modifies your T cells in a lab. CAR T-cell therapy removes T cells from your body and modifies them. This modification helps them produce a protein called CAR, which allows them to attack cancer cells. Thereafter, your healthcare provider reinfuses CAR T into your body.

Whereas, Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) remove T-cells from your tumour and search for the best cancer-fighting cells. Moreover, they prepare a copy of that cell and introduce new cancer cells into your body.

These vaccines are very different from those used during infections. In particular, these include vaccines that prevent cancer-related infections. For instance, the HPV vaccine helps in preventing HPV infections that can lead to cervical cancer. 

The cancer vaccines used during immunotherapy are not recommended to prevent cancers; instead, they are used to fight cancer you already have. They train your immune system to recognise markers on cancer cells, and once the cells are identified, your immune system fights them.

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins designed to mimic the immune system’s natural defenses. They are engineered to attach to specific antigens or identifying markers on cancer cells, acting almost like guided missiles that help the immune system detect and destroy cancer more efficiently.

Certain monoclonal antibodies are also used as drug carriers. By delivering chemotherapy or radiation directly to cancer cells, they minimize damage to healthy tissue and reduce treatment-related side effects. This targeted approach makes monoclonal antibodies a crucial component of many modern cancer therapy plans.

Immunotherapy treatment given during cancer is known to be one of the most promising treatments. This is due to its ability to leverage the body's own immune system, delivering stronger attacks against cancer cells. This way, you can protect your healthy cells while killing tumour cells.