Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that helps your immune system fight cancer.
The immune system helps your body fight infections and other diseases.
It is made up of white blood cells and organs
and tissues of the lymph system.
Immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy. Biological therapy is a type of treatment that uses substances made from living organisms to treat cancer.
Many different types of immunotherapy are used to treat cancer. They include:
Other types of monoclonal antibodies can "mark" cancer cells so it is easier for the immune system to find and destroy them. These types of monoclonal antibodies may also be referred to as targeted therapy. See Precision Medicine and Targeted Therapy for more information.
You may have treatments to reduce your immune cells. After these treatments, the T cells that were grown in the lab will be given back to you via a needle in your vein. The process of growing your T cells in the lab can take 2 to 8 weeks, depending on how fast they grow.
Immunotherapy is not yet as widely used as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. However, immunotherapies have been approved to treat people with many types of cancer.
Many other immunotherapies are being studied in clinical trials, which are research studies involving people. To find a study that may be an option for you, visit Find a Clinical Trial.
One reason that cancer cells thrive is because they are able to hide from your immune system. Certain immunotherapies can mark cancer cells so it is easier for the immune system to find and destroy them. Other immunotherapies boost your immune system to work better against cancer.
Immunotherapy can cause side effects. The side effects you may have depend on the type of immunotherapy you receive and how your body reacts to it.
The most common side effects are skin reactions at the needle site. These side effects include:
You may have flu-like symptoms, which include:
Other side effects might include:
Immunotherapies may also cause severe or even fatal allergic reactions. However, these reactions are rare.
Different forms of immunotherapy may be given in different ways. These include:
You may receive immunotherapy in a doctor's office, clinic, or outpatient unit in a hospital. Outpatient means you do not spend the night in the hospital.
How often and how long you receive immunotherapy depends on:
You may have treatment every day, week, or month. Some immunotherapies are given in cycles. A cycle is a period of treatment followed by a period of rest. The rest period gives your body a chance to recover, respond to the immunotherapy, and build new healthy cells.
Immunotherapy affects people in different ways. How you feel depends on how healthy you are before treatment, your type of cancer, how advanced it is, the type of therapy you are getting, and the dose. Doctors and nurses cannot know for certain how you will feel during treatment.
You will see your doctor often. He or she will give you physical exams and ask you how you feel. You will have medical tests, such as blood tests and different types of scans. These tests will measure the size of your tumor and look for changes in your blood work.
-NIH