Immunotherapy
(Biologic therapy or Biotherapy)
The body's defense against invasion by bacteria, viruses and other foreign substances is known as the immune system. The immune system prevents germs from entering into the body, or kills them if they are inside.. There are good reasons to believe the immune system can help fight cancer. People with weakened immune systems have been found more likely to develop cancer. Even people with normal immune systems develop cancer. The cancer cells are not seen as foreign enough to attack. Researchers have designed ways to help the immune system recognize cancer cells, and to strengthen the immune system response so that it will destroy the cancer cells.
Immunotherapy is treatment that uses certain parts of the immune system to fight disease, including cancer. Generally, this is done in a couple of ways One is stimulating the patient’s own immune system. The other is giving immune system components, such as man-made proteins, to the patient.
As mesothelioma cells are believed to be susceptible to immune mechanisms, some experts think it can be successfully treated through immunological means. By combining surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy with immunotherapy, better results may be achieved. Unfortunately, to date, immunotherapy has not been successful against mesothelioma.
Anna L. Kaplan, M.D.
