Immunotherapy for Cancer - NCI

Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that helps your immune system fight cancer. The immune system helps your body fight infections ... Skiptomaincontent Español 1-800-4-CANCER LiveChat Publications Dictionary Home AboutCancer CancerTreatment TypesofCancerTreatment CancerTreatment TypesofCancerTreatment BiomarkerTesting Chemotherapy HormoneTherapy Hyperthermia Immunotherapy CancerTreatmentVaccines CheckpointInhibitors ImmuneSystemModulators MonoclonalAntibodies SideEffects T-cellTransferTherapy PhotodynamicTherapy RadiationTherapy Brachytherapy ExternalBeamRadiation SideEffects StemCellTransplant Surgery Cryosurgery Lasers TargetedTherapy ApprovedDrugsbyCancerType SideEffectsofCancerTreatment ClinicalTrialsInformation FindNCI-SupportedClinicalTrials StepstoFindaClinicalTrial HelpWithClinicalTrialsSearch WhatAreClinicalTrials? WhereTrialsTakePlace TypesofClinicalTrials PhasesofClinicalTrials Randomization UseofPlacebos ResearchTeamMembers PayingforClinicalTrials InsuranceCoverageandClinicalTrials HowtoWorkWithYourHealthInsurancePlan FederalGovernmentPrograms PatientSafety InformedConsent Children'sAssent ScientificReview EndingTrialsEarly DecidingtoTakePartinaTrial QuestionstoAskaboutTreatmentClinicalTrials SelectedNCI-SupportedTrials AtoZListofCancerDrugs DrugsApprovedforDifferentTypesofCancer DrugsApprovedforChildhoodCancers DrugsApprovedforConditionsRelatedtoCancer Off-LabelDrugUse AccesstoExperimentalDrugs Complementary&AlternativeMedicine(CAM) CAMforPatients CAMforHealthProfessionals QuestionstoAskaboutYourTreatment Research ImmunotherapytoTreatCancer Immunotherapyisatypeofcancertreatmentthathelpsyourimmunesystemfightcancer.Theimmunesystemhelpsyourbodyfightinfectionsandotherdiseases.Itismadeupofwhitebloodcellsandorgansandtissuesofthelymph system. Immunotherapyisatypeofbiologicaltherapy.Biologicaltherapyisatypeoftreatmentthatusessubstancesmadefromlivingorganismstotreatcancer. OnThisPage Howdoesimmunotherapyworkagainstcancer? Whatarethetypesofimmunotherapy? Whichcancersaretreatedwithimmunotherapy? Whatarethesideeffectsofimmunotherapy? Howisimmunotherapygiven? Wheredoyougoforimmunotherapy? Howoftendoyoureceiveimmunotherapy? Howcanyoutellifimmunotherapyisworking? Whatisthecurrentresearchinimmunotherapy? Howdoyoufindclinicaltrialsthataretestingimmunotherapy? Howdoesimmunotherapyworkagainstcancer? Aspartofitsnormalfunction,theimmunesystemdetectsanddestroysabnormalcellsandmostlikelypreventsorcurbsthegrowthofmanycancers.Forinstance,immunecellsaresometimesfoundinandaroundtumors.Thesecells,calledtumor-infiltratinglymphocytesorTILs,areasignthattheimmunesystemisrespondingtothetumor.PeoplewhosetumorscontainTILsoftendobetterthanpeoplewhosetumorsdon’tcontainthem. Eventhoughtheimmunesystemcanpreventorslowcancergrowth,cancercellshavewaystoavoiddestructionbytheimmunesystem.Forexample,cancercellsmay: Havegeneticchangesthatmakethemlessvisibletotheimmunesystem. Haveproteinsontheirsurfacethatturnoffimmunecells. Changethenormalcellsaroundthetumorsotheyinterferewithhowtheimmunesystemrespondstothecancercells. Immunotherapyhelpstheimmunesystemtobetteractagainstcancer. Whatarethetypesofimmunotherapy? Severaltypesofimmunotherapyareusedtotreatcancer.Theseinclude: Immunecheckpointinhibitors,whicharedrugsthatblockimmunecheckpoints.Thesecheckpointsareanormalpartoftheimmunesystemandkeepimmuneresponsesfrombeingtoostrong.Byblockingthem,thesedrugsallowimmunecellstorespondmorestronglytocancer. Learnmoreaboutimmunecheckpointinhibitors. T-celltransfertherapy,whichisatreatmentthatbooststhenaturalabilityofyourTcells tofightcancer.Inthistreatment,immunecellsaretakenfromyourtumor.Thosethataremostactiveagainstyourcancerareselectedorchangedinthelabtobetterattackyourcancercells,growninlargebatches,andputbackintoyourbodythroughaneedleinavein. T-celltransfertherapymayalsobecalledadoptivecelltherapy,adoptiveimmunotherapy,orimmunecelltherapy. LearnmoreaboutT-celltransfertherapy. Monoclonalantibodies,whichareimmunesystemproteinscreatedinthelabthataredesignedtobindtospecifictargetsoncancercells.Somemonoclonalantibodiesmarkcancercellssothattheywillbebetterseenanddestroyedbytheimmunesystem.Suchmonoclonalantibodiesareatypeofimmunotherapy. Monoclonalantibodiesmayalsobecalledtherapeuticantibodies. Learnmoreaboutmonoclonalantibodies. Treatmentvaccines,whichworkagainstcancerbyboostingyourimmunesystem’sresponsetocancercells.Treatmentvaccinesaredifferentfromtheonesthathelppreventdisease. Learnmoreaboutcancertreatmentvaccines. Immunesystemmodulators,whichenhancethebody’simmuneresponseagainstcancer.Someoftheseagentsaffectspecificpartsoftheimmunesystem,whereasothersaffecttheimmunesysteminamoregeneralway. Learnmoreaboutimmunesystemmodulators. Whichcancersaretreatedwithimmunotherapy? Immunotherapydrugshavebeenapprovedtotreatmanytypesofcancer.However,immunotherapyisnotyetaswidelyusedassurgery,chemotherapy,orradiationtherapy.Tolearnaboutwhetherimmunotherapymaybeusedtotreatyourcancer,seethe PDQ®adultcancertreatmentsummariesandchildhoodcancertreatmentsummaries. Whatarethesideeffectsofimmunotherapy? Immunotherapycancausesideeffects,manyofwhichhappenwhentheimmunesystemthathasbeenrevved-uptoactagainstthecanceralsoactsagainsthealthycellsandtissuesinyourbody. Learnmoreaboutimmunotherapysideeffects. Howisimmunotherapygiven? Differentformsofimmunotherapymaybegivenindifferentways.Theseinclude: intravenous(IV) Theimmunotherapygoesdirectlyintoavein. oral Theimmunotherapycomesinpillsorcapsulesthatyouswallow. topical Theimmunotherapycomesinacreamthatyourubontoyourskin.Thistypeofimmunotherapycanbeusedforveryearlyskincancer. intravesical Theimmunotherapygoesdirectlyintothebladder. Wheredoyougoforimmunotherapy? Youmayreceiveimmunotherapyinadoctor’soffice,clinic,oroutpatientunitinahospital.Outpatientmeansyoudonotspendthenightinthehospital. Howoftendoyoureceiveimmunotherapy? Howoftenandhowlongyoureceiveimmunotherapydependson: yourtypeofcancerandhowadvanceditis thetypeofimmunotherapyyouget howyourbodyreactstotreatment Youmayhavetreatmenteveryday,week,ormonth.Sometypesofimmunotherapygivenincycles.Acycleisaperiodoftreatmentfollowedbyaperiodofrest.Therestperiodgivesyourbodyachancetorecover,respondtoimmunotherapy,andbuildnewhealthycells. Howcanyoutellifimmunotherapyisworking? Youwillseeyourdoctoroften.Heorshewillgiveyouphysicalexamsandaskyouhowyoufeel.Youwillhavemedicaltests,suchasbloodtestsanddifferenttypesofscans.Thesetestswillmeasurethesizeofyourtumorandlookforchangesinyourbloodwork. Whatisthecurrentresearchinimmunotherapy? NCI’sRoleinImmunotherapyResearch NCIsupportsawiderangeofimmunotherapyresearch,frombasicsciencetoclinicaltrials. Researchersarefocusingonseveralmajorareastoimproveimmunotherapy,including: Findingsolutionsforresistance. Researchersaretestingcombinationsofimmunecheckpointinhibitorsandothertypesofimmunotherapy,targetedtherapy,andradiationtherapytoovercomeresistancetoimmunotherapy. Findingwaystopredictresponsestoimmunotherapy. Onlyasmallportionofpeoplewhoreceiveimmunotherapywillrespondtothetreatment.Findingwaystopredictwhichpeoplewillrespondtotreatmentisamajorareaofresearch. Learningmoreabouthowcancercellsevadeorsuppressimmuneresponsesagainstthem. Abetterunderstandingofhowcancercellsgetaroundtheimmunesystemcouldleadtothedevelopmentofnewdrugsthatblockthoseprocesses. Howtoreducethesideeffectsoftreatmentwithimmunotherapy. Howdoyoufindclinicaltrialsthataretestingimmunotherapy? TofindclinicalresearchstudiesthatinvolveimmunotherapyvisitFindNCI-SupportedClinicalTrialsorcalltheCancerInformationService,NCI’scontactcenter,at1-800-4-CANCER(1-800-422-6237). NCI’slistofcancerclinicaltrialsincludesallNCI-supportedclinicaltrialsthataretakingplaceacrosstheUnitedStatesandCanada,includingtheNIHClinicalCenterinBethesda,MD.