How Does Immunotherapy Treat Cancer?

How Does Immunotherapy Treat Cancer?

Your immune system addresses cancer in many ways. Immunotherapy can work by boosting the effectiveness of cell types, including:

• Dendritic cells to signal the presence of cancer and draw the rest of the immune system
• Cytokine signals to direct immune cells
• T cells to kill cancer cells or help other cells work better
• B cells to produce cancer-attacking antibodies
• Macrophages that consume cancer cells
• Regulatory factors to prevent overreactions

These strategies make your immune system better at noticing, recognizing, and attacking cancer. Since cancer cells come from normal body cells, your immune system sometimes needs a boost to attack them more effectively. 

Unlike chemotherapy, your immune system “knows” what to target, so it does not affect cells like those in your hair follicles that can cause hair loss. It also does not cause many of the other unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy. 

How is Immunotherapy Administered?

Immunotherapy can be administered in many different ways. One of the most common is by IV infusion or injection. However, you may also take it orally. People receive immunotherapy anywhere from daily to monthly and may receive it in combination with chemotherapy or radiation. There are many types of immunotherapy, so your team will explain what you can expect. Immunotherapy can take several months to produce full results.