Harsh cancer treatments and Immune oncology

Immune oncology also known as immunotherapy is the study of treatment of cancer by using immune system of body to fight against it. It is a type of therapy designed to encourage the body’s natural defense to altercate cancer. Substances which are either produced by body or in laboratory are used to boost, or regain body’s immunity. It is not exactly understood how this therapy works, it may work by accelerating immune system’s effectiveness at removing cancer cells, it may halt them from reaching other body parts, or it reduces the speed of growth of cancer cells.

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This type of treatment seems too good to be true, but is logical and based on simple concept, whereas, treatment like chemotherapy which is widely used to kill this disease but it can only work by hurting the body. To understand immunotherapy better lets discuss monoclonal antibodies which is a type of this therapy.

Monoclonal antibodies

Body’s immune system produces antibodies to fight against antigens which are foreign harmful substances. But cancer develops, because body’s immune system cannot identify the cancer cells as foreign element and does not destroy it. Monoclonal antibodies which are artificial antibodies are given to patients and act like antibodies naturally produced by immune system of patients body. These artificial antibodies given intravenously work by attaching themselves to cancer cells and target specific proteins which support the increase of cancer cells.

Getting attached to these cells they are supposed to accomplish some tasks. As the immune system is unable to detect harmful cancer cells usually and monoclonal antibodies tag them to specific parts of cancer cells which are not present in the healthy cells of a body and help defense system to destroy them.

Cancer cells grow faster than normal cells because they can make copies of the chemical found in the body called growth factor receptors and multiply themselves by sending signals to other cells. But monoclonal antibodies prevent these receptors to multiply the cells and not send more signals.

Also when radioactive molecules are attached to monoclonal antibodies, they directly deliver radiation to cancer cells and hence very low dose of radiation is used and helps healthy cells to remain unaffected which is another benefit of this treatment over chemotherapy which uses very large amount of radiation to kill cancer and kills several healthy cells also.

Although this therapy is new and still has to be worked upon various factors to be recognized and used worldwide, but it is becoming hope for cancer patients which have to undergo painful cancer treatments.