Immunotherapy – Introduction

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in India, with over 1.5 million new cases diagnosed each year. While there are many treatment options available, immunotherapy is becoming an increasingly popular choice, especially for patients who have not responded well to other treatments.

Immunotherapy works by harnessing the body’s own immune system to fight cancer cells. This treatment is usually administered through injections or intravenous infusions. It can be used as a standalone therapy or in combination with other cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Why Immunotherapy?

• Immunotherapies have been approved across the globe for treating various cancers and are advised to patients by oncologists. The effectiveness of these therapies is well proven through years of research and study.
• Immunotherapy may work differently for each patient, and some types of immunotherapies are related with possibly severe yet manageable side effects. Oncologists are developing new ways to find out which patients are expected to respond to treatment and which aren’t. The researches are leading to new approaches for expanding the number of patients who would potentially benefit from immunotherapy treatment.
• Immunotherapy has the potential to become increasingly precise and personalized as well as more effective as compared to the current cancer treatment modules and possibly with lesser side effects.

Which Cancers can be treated with Immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy has potential to effectively treat all types of cancers, claims the best cancer specialist for immunotherapy in India, Dr. Amit Aggarwal. Let us understand this below –

• Immunotherapy will improve your immune system’s capability to identify, aim, and eliminate cancerous cells, wherever they are present in the body, thus making it a potential treatment for your cancer.
• In some countries across the globe, Immunotherapy is approved as the primary line of treatment for various cancers.It is also an effective treatment approach for patients suffering from certain cancers which are resistant to any prior treatment tried for the patient.
• Immunotherapy can be given either independently or in combination with other cancer treatments like chemotherapy, radiation therapy, etc.

How is Immunotherapy administered?

Various forms of immunotherapy can be given in several ways. For example:

• Intravenous (IV), in which the immunotherapy goes straightaway into your vein.
• Oral, in which immunotherapy is given in the form of pills or capsules that you can swallow.
• Topical, in which the immunotherapy comes in the form of cream which you will be asked to rub on your skin. This type of immunotherapy is prescribed for the very initial stage of skin cancer.
• Intravesical, is the one in which the immunotherapy goes right into the bladder.

Immunotherapy in India

The aim of immunotherapy treatment is to organize your body’s immune system to once again be able to trace and attack cancer cells. The various types of immunotherapies function differently and have their own benefits and risks. Based on your medical condition and cancer stage, your doctor will decide which type of immunotherapy will be given to you.

Following are the different types of Immunotherapies performed at the best hospitals in India for cancer treatments:

• Monoclonal or Therapeutic Antibodies– They are grown inside a lab and then injected into the patient’s body. Some mark cancerous cells so that your immune system is able to identify and kill them. While others are more straight in their approach, by ending the growth of cancer cells or causing them to get self-destroyed.
• CAR T-cell Therapy, also known as – immune cell therapy or adoptive cell therapy or adoptive immunotherapy is essentially performed by your treating oncologist by harvesting white blood cells from inside of your tumor and growing them in a lab, thus making changes to fortify their natural ability to fight against cancer. Pathologists grow these cells in large batches which are then injected back into the patient’s body to fight against cancer.
  
  

  

• Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors – These are a type of drug which remove natural blockades within your body to keep your immune system in check. In the absence of these natural blockades, your immune system may overreact, just like it happens in autoimmune diseases.
  Cancers tend to use these blockades (or proteins)for hiding from the immune system. Once these blockades get deactivated through barrier inhibitors, the door gets opened, and your body gets capable of responding more strongly to the cancerous cells.
• Cancer Vaccines, also known asImmunotherapeutic or treatment vaccines, are known to boost a patient’s immune system response when he or she already has cancer. Do note that they are not preventative vaccines like we know about viruses, such as various flus. By offering immune cells with a target found on cancerous cells, they lead the body to create antibodies for attacking cancer cells. Vaccines typically comprise an immune-stimulating agent to assemble the white blood cells precisely against that protein target.
• Cytokines – These are proteins generated by your own body during natural infections which play an important role to stimulate your immune system cells. By enhancing your body’s natural cytokines, these treatments help in ramping up immune cells and thus transfer them towards their target, that is, the tumor.
• Immune System Modulators – Also known asImmunomodulators, these are drugs which amplify your body’s immune reaction. Several immunomodulators act in several ways – some target specifically on particular parts of the immune system, while others act throughout the body.

Cost of Immunotherapy in India

The cost of immunotherapy in India can start from $4,500 USD per treatment session. The number of sessions required varies from patient to patient, depending on the type and stage of cancer. For some patients, immunotherapy may be the only treatment option available.