'Like science fiction': How a new wave of immunotherapy is eliminating cancers
10 hours ago
- #personalized medicine
- #cancer treatment
- #immunotherapy
- Immunotherapy boosts the body's immune system to fight cancer, offering personalized treatment and long-term remission with fewer side effects than chemotherapy or radiation.
- Key immunotherapy methods include CAR T-cell therapies (effective for blood cancers) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (drugs that prevent cancer cells from disabling immune responses).
- Limitations exist: CAR T-cell therapies struggle with solid tumors and are costly, while immune checkpoint inhibitors can cause diverse side effects and don't work for all patients.
- Response rates to immunotherapy vary (20-40% of patients), so researchers are exploring multi-pronged approaches like diet modifications, combination therapies, and personalized medicine to improve outcomes.
- Promising advances include cancer vaccines, which train the immune system to target specific tumor proteins, and personalized treatments based on genetic profiles, though more research is needed for broader application.