What is immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy that uses targeted drugs to convince the body’s immune system to recognize that there is something foreign in the body (cancer) and to attack the cells threatening it.
How does immunotherapy work?
Some forms of immunotherapy are immune system “boosters,” helping your body attack the cancer cells. Other types are designed to go after the proteins that help cancer cells grow, thereby slowing or stopping the process.
Additionally, some types of immunotherapy work alone to combat cancer cells, while others are used in combination with another treatment to strengthen the immune system’s response or to help improve the impact of the primary therapy.
What are the latest developments?
Clinical trials are an integral part of finding new ways to harness the body’s ability to inhibit cancer development and growth. Sarah Cannon has a number of clinical trials for these modern immunotherapies and has been involved in the research for new immunotherapy drugs approved for the treatment of melanoma and lung cancer.