The Role of Immunotherapy in Treating Cancer
The Role of Immunotherapy in Treating Cancer
September 16, 2024 by adminCancer treatments have seen much improvement over the years, new avenues of hope being opened up through these numerous advances in medical science. One of the most promising and breakthrough approaches is immunotherapy, which functions through the use of a patient’s own immune system to destroy cancer cells. In contrast to traditional treatments like chemotherapy and radiation, which target not only the cancerous cell but also healthy cells, immunotherapy is applied in boosting the body’s own mechanisms of natural defense. In this blog by Sugam hospital, the best cancer hospital in Chennai, we will discuss the role of immunotherapy in treating cancer and why it is considered a game-changer in oncology.
What Is Immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment which enhances or boosts the body’s natural resistance to cancer. It is interference with the body’s immune system, where it allows the immune system to act more aggressively against cancer cells. The primary role of the immune system is to recognize abnormal cells, such as cancer cells, and destroy them. This can be avoided by the cancer cells sometimes; it means that the immune system may not recognize them, and hence they can keep multiplying unhindered. Immunotherapy attempts to correct this. It tries to make the immune system work harder or introduces components such as lab-produced proteins to the immune system so that it knows what is happening around and attacks those cancerous cells.
How Does Immunotherapy Work In Cancer?
The immuno-therapy uses the body’s natural defenses to target cancer in a more specific manner. Here’s how to work it out
Targeting Cancer Cells:
Immunotherapy teaches the immune system to identify the cancer cells as threats. Ordinarily, the cancer cells hide or suppress the immunity response, but immuno-therapy lifts up the barriers and allows the immunity system to attack them.
Creating A Long Term Response:
Some of these immunotherapies will train the immune system to remain aware of the presence of these cancer cells for a long time, providing a more durable response even after discontinuation of the treatment. Such therapy by your cancer hospital in Chennai, is also pivotal in preventing relapse in some cancers.
Personalized:
Immunotherapy is used or administered for a specific type of cancer and specific immune profile; unlike the traditional therapies, it is more personalized.
Advantages Of Immunotherapy
Another advantage of immunotherapy is the relative lack of side effects when compared with conventional therapies like chemotherapy, capable of harming one’s health cells. Immunotherapy also holds great promise for cancers that have otherwise proved resistant to other therapies, such as melanoma, lung cancer, and some forms of leukemia or lymphoma.
Cancer immunotherapy can be combined with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy to improve outcomes. This therapy option is classified as multimodal therapy that improves the chances of eliminating cancer as well as reduces the recurrence.
Future Research End
These cancer treatment in Chennai, however, are being further improved by continuous research. New findings on biomarkers give physicians a newly found clue as to which patients may likely benefit from immunotherapy. These drugs are set to become more potent as research advances, and more clinically beneficial in cancer treatment, and thus more readily available as well.
Immunotherapy represents a shift in the tide of cancer treatment, opening doors for treatment for advanced or treatment-resistant cancers in a large number of patients. Immunotherapy exploits the power of the immune system with a targeted, individualized approach that would change the course of oncology in the future. Continuing further research and developments would make immunotherapy an even more effective tool in combating cancer.