Immunology is a treatment where doctors use the human body’s immune system to fight cancerous cells. It is even known as biological therapy. It involves giving patients monoclonal antibodies, tumor vaccines, cytokines, checkpoint inhibitors, and Immunomodulators. These drugs aim at eradicating the cancerous cells in their bodies without harming the healthy ones. They even stimulate various components of the immune system to work correctly. These are the bone marrow, spleen, appendix, and thymus and lymphatic system. This ensures the patients do not fall sick with other illnesses during their cancer treatment. It is a better alternative to chemotherapy, surgery, hormone therapy, or radiotherapy.
Paolo Boffetta – Why are most oncologists recommending immunotherapy?
Paolo Boffetta is an Epidemiologist from Italy whose area of expertise is in cancer research. He has made significant contributions to understanding how smoking and alcohol consumption leads to cancer. For the last 30 years, he has been working in important positions in some of the most prestigious cancer research institutes. These include the American Cancer Society, Karolinska Institute, IARC, German Cancer Research Center, and US National Cancer Institute. He is even on the editorial board of several prominent scientific journals. These include Biomarkers, International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, Annals of Occupational Hygiene, and European Journal of Clinical Investigation. Currently, he is the Vice President at the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon.
He says immunotherapy focuses on employing the patients’ immune system to fight cancerous cells. It involves administrating them with certain drugs, vaccines, and substances which perform the following functions:
- Ensuring the immune system works correctly in stopping the spread of cancerous cells, and
- Locating and destroying the various cancerous cells without affecting the healthy ones.
He further states drugs which most oncologists usually recommend to cancer patients under immunotherapy treatment include:
- Checkpoint inhibitors which revamp the immune system so that it identifies and eradicates the cancerous cells,
- Injecting vaccines containing monoclonal antibodies which target and attack only the cancer cells,
- Immunomodulators which stimulate various components of the immune system so that it functions appropriately, and
- Cytokines activate the white blood cells in the immune system to attack the cancerous ones.
Advantages of immunotherapy
He points out the following advantages of benefits of immunotherapy over other cancer treatments:
- It results in fewer side effects in patients in comparison to other treatments,
- Immunotherapy can enhance the effectiveness of other cancer treatments like chemotherapy,
- It is ideal in curing skin cancer where chemotherapy, radiotherapy or radiation does not work, and
- Less likelihood of the cancerous cells reappearing as immunotherapy can recognize and destroy them.
According to Paolo Boffetta immunotherapy is one of the most effective cancer treatments to date.It helps to boost the patients’ immune system in eradicating the cancerous cells. In doing so, it does not touch any of the healthy cells. Unlike chemotherapy, hormone therapy, radiotherapy, surgery, or radiation, patients suffer few side effects under immunotherapy. Moreover, there is less likelihood under this treatment of the cancerous cells reappearing at a later stage. Immunotherapy even improves the effectiveness of other cancer treatments, and this is why it is popular today.