Immunotherapy is a therapeutic modality that uses components of the immune system, such as antibodies, cells, or molecules to prevent, treat, or control diseases.
The immune system is one of the human body’s most powerful tools, designed to detect and eliminate threats, from viruses to cancer cells. However, the system can fail or require support when dealing with certain conditions or diseases.
What is immunotherapy
Immunotherapy, unlike traditional treatments, acts directly on the pathogen or damaged cell, stimulating or modulating the patient’s own immune system to act more effectively.
There are several types of immunotherapy, with the most common ones including:
- Active immunotherapy: directly stimulates the immune system to attack a disease.
- Passive immunotherapy: introduces immunological components developed in the lab, such as monoclonal antibodies.
- Specific immunotherapy: targets a specific element, such as a tumor cell or allergens.
- Nonspecific immunotherapy: strengthens the body’s overall immune response.
The clinical applications of immunotherapy are broad, although allergies and cancer are among the most widely used areas. Immunotherapy can also help in the field of autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, in infectious diseases where immunological treatments for chronic infections are being developed, or in neurology, where the potential of immunotherapy for neurodegenerative diseases is being studied, for example.
Although it may seem confusing at first glance, immunotherapy is a different treatment from targeted therapy. Targeted therapy acts directly on specific molecules (such as proteins or genes) involved in the growth, progression, or survival of certain cells, especially tumor cells. Unlike immunotherapy, it does not act through the immune system, but directly on diseased cells.
Allergy immunotherapy
One of the most established areas for the application of immunotherapy is in the treatment of allergic diseases, known as allergen-specific immunotherapy or allergy vaccines, which aims to modify the abnormal immune response to allergens such as pollen, mites, or even food.
Immunotherapy has currently proven effective in treating allergic conditions such as allergic rhinitis or hay fever, allergic asthma, insect bites (including bee stings), pollen, mold, and pet dander.
In the treatment of allergies, immunotherapy involves exposing the patient to gradually increasing amounts of the allergen responsible for the reaction, to desensitize the immune system and reduce symptoms over time. This can be administered through injections, drops, or tablets.
An appropriate immunotherapy treatment for the right patient can provide benefits such as a reduction in allergy symptoms, reduced medication use, and improved quality of life. It can sometimes even alter the normal course of the disease and prevent the progression of allergic rhinitis and asthma.
Cancer treatment
In modern medicine, one of the most groundbreaking areas of immunotherapy is its application in oncology. This treatment, unlike chemotherapy or radiation therapy, aims to activate the immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells.
There are different types of cancer immunotherapy:
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors: these drugs block certain proteins that tumors use to evade the immune response; by turning off this brake, the immune system can attack cancer cells more effectively.
- CAR T-cell therapy (CAR-T): T cells are removed from the patient, genetically modified in a laboratory to recognize specific tumor cells, and then reintroduced into the patient; this type of treatment has shown good results in patients with lymphomas or leukemias.
- Monoclonal antibodies: These are proteins designed to bind to specific targets on cancer cells, destroying them or blocking their growth. Some antibodies may also carry drugs or toxins directly to the tumor.
- Therapeutic cancer vaccines: This type of vaccine stimulates an immune response against existing tumor cells; however, this procedure is still in the development stages.
- Cytokines: these are natural substances produced by the immune system, such as interleukins and interferons, and can be administered to stimulate an anti-tumor response.
Among the types of cancer that can be treated with immunotherapy are metastatic melanoma, renal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, lymphomas, bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, as well as triple-negative breast cancer, to name a few.
Something crucial to understand about immunotherapy is that, although it can offer excellent results in some cases, not all patients are suitable for this type of treatment. There are also patients who will require combination therapy with other therapies, and there are also patients who will not respond to or are not suitable for immunotherapy. The decision on the type of treatment to follow will be made by the oncologist in charge of the case.
At the ABC Medical Center’s Internal Medicine Department and Cancer Center, we can provide you with specialized care. Contact us!
Fuentes:
NIH, MedlinePlus, Scielo
