By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Trip NewsHealth Trip NewsHealth Trip News
  • Home
  • News
    NewsShow More
    pollen allergies in 2025 seasonal allergy forecast and prevention
    Pollen allergies in 2025: US cities struggling with sneezing season
    By Amelia Kerr
    Surge in viral infections
    Surge in viral, respiratory infections after pre-monsoon showers
    By Amelia Kerr
    India Cancels Medical Visas
    How India’s decision to cancel medical visas after Pahalgam is hurting Pakistanis
    By Amelia Kerr
    H5N1 Bird Flu Outbreak
    H5N1 Bird Flu in US: Over 70 Human Cases Raise Pandemic Fears, Say Experts
    By Amelia Kerr
    Medical Tourism Growth in India
    India’s Medical Tourism Set to Grow with Easier Visa Rules
    By Amelia Kerr
  • Health Tips
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Diet
    Health Tips
    The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”…
    Show More
    Top News
    A cheerful young woman doing yoga in a sunny park, surrounded by fresh greenery, symbolizing daily habits for good health.
    Daily Habits for Good Health
    January 3, 2025
    High-Fiber FODMAP Foods
    High-Fiber FODMAP Foods: Gut-Friendly Choices for Better Digestion
    January 30, 2025
    plant based diet in 30 days
    30-Day Plant-Based Diet Plan for a Healthier Lifestyle
    March 5, 2025
    Latest News
    PCOS not a taboo: Don’t delay or hesitate to seek treatment
    May 21, 2025
    17 Science-Backed Strategies to Protect Your Brain from Stroke, Dementia, and Depression
    May 21, 2025
    Not hunger, but mood: Why stress and sadness trigger junk food cravings
    May 12, 2025
    Stress Is A Big Factor For Heart Risks! Doctors Explain What You Can Do To Unwind
    May 10, 2025
  • Research & Innovations
    Research & InnovationsShow More
    Selfie predicts cancer survival odds
    A Simple Selfie Could Reveal Your Odds Of Surviving Cancer, Study Reveals
    By Amelia Kerr
    AI lung cancer screening
    AstraZeneca AI Screening: 5M Tests, 50K High-Risk Identified
    By Amelia Kerr
    Pregnancy Complications Blood Test
    New Blood Test May Detect Pregnancy Complications Early, Study Finds
    By Amelia Kerr
    India IT workforce fatty liver
    80% of India’s IT workforce struggles with fatty liver disease: Nature Study
    By Amelia Kerr
    Measles Outbreak Texas Cases
    Deadly Measles Outbreak: Texas Child Dies as 130+ Cases Spread
    By Amelia Kerr
  • Medical Tourism
    Medical TourismShow More
    Top healthcare centers India
    best hospitals of india
    By Amelia Kerr
    best orthopedic hospitals in India
    best orthopedic hospitals in india
    By Amelia Kerr
    Laser hair removal cost in India
    laser hair removal surgery cost
    By Amelia Kerr
    Rheumatoid arthritis vs osteoarthritis comparison
    which is worse rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis
    By Amelia Kerr
    Stage 4 Lung Survival explained
    stage 4 lung cancer life expectancy no treatment
    By Amelia Kerr
  • Treatment
    TreatmentShow More
    pediatric surgery care for children in india
    Pediatric Surgery in India: Hope for Children from Conflict Areas
    By Amelia Kerr
    Coronary Artery Bypass ICD-10
    coronary artery bypass icd 10
    By Amelia Kerr
    A woman stands beside a detailed model of a human kidney, illustrating the effects of hydronephrosis.
    Hydronephrosis: Types, Procedure, Benefits, Cost, Risk & Recovery
    By John Smith
    A healthcare professional holds a syringe, preparing for a varicocele repair procedure.
    Varicocele Repair: Types, Procedure, Benefits, Cost, Risk & Recovery
    By John Smith
    A young boy sits in a dental chair, flanked by his concerned mother and father, preparing for a medical procedure.
    Circumcision: Types, Procedure, Benefits, Cost, Risk & Recovery
    By John Smith
  • Other News
  • Blog
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Trip NewsHealth Trip News
Font ResizerAa
  • Food & Diet
  • Lifestyle & Wellness
  • Health Tips
  • News
  • Research & Innovations
  • Categories
    • Health Tips
    • Food & Diet
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • News
    • Research & Innovations
    • Medical Tourism
    • Treatment
    • Other News
  • More
    • Blog
    • Sitemap
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
Research & Innovations

The Evolution of Immunotherapy: Targeting Cancer with Precision

Amelia Kerr
Last updated: January 28, 2025 6:14 pm
By Amelia Kerr
Share
10 Min Read
Immunotherapy for Cancer image
Immunotherapy for Cancer image
SHARE

Introduction: A New Era in Cancer Treatment

For decades, cancer treatment primarily relied on traditional therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Although these techniques have saved many lives they are not without their downsides, such as substantial side effects and the inability to specifically target certain types of cancer. The prestige of immunotherapy has arrived at a new era of cancer therapy, providing more personalized, more accurate, and more tolerable strategies against cancer. Immunotherapy leverages the patient’s immune system to identify and fight against cancer cells, a promising advancement in cancer treatment.

Contents
Introduction: A New Era in Cancer TreatmentWhat is Immunotherapy?Immunotherapy for Cancer: The History and Evolution of ImmunotherapyImmunotherapy for Cancer: Modern Immunotherapy – A Shift Towards PrecisionImmunotherapy for Cancer: Types of ImmunotherapyExamples of checkpoint inhibitors include:-CAR-T Cell TherapyMonoclonal AntibodiesFor example: –Oncolytic Virus TherapyCancer VaccinesImmunotherapy for Cancer: Success Stories of ImmunotherapyImmunotherapy for Cancer: The Future of ImmunotherapyConclusion: Precision at the Forefront of Cancer Treatment

This article discusses the development of immunotherapy and how it is, the various immunotherapy modes that it performs, the success to date with immunotherapy, and the road ahead for using such an advanced treatment for cancer.

What is Immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy is a therapy that utilizes and strengthens systemic innate immune function in which to attack cancer. The immune system is able to identify and kill damaging agents, such as viruses infections, bacteria, as well as cancer cells. Cancer cells, on the other hand, can acquire the ability to escape immune surveillance and proliferate smolderingly.

Immunotherapies target increasing the activity or effectiveness of the immune system, or by providing the immune system with parts, like antibodies, that can facilitate the identification and elimination of cancer cells. In contrast to conventional therapy, which specifically targets cancer cells, immunotherapy is geared towards enhancing the immune system’s ability to better combat cancer.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: The History and Evolution of Immunotherapy

Early Beginnings: The Foundation of Immunotherapy

The idea of cancer therapy with the immune system has been coming back for over a century. The early pioneer, William Coley, is commonly regarded as the grandfather of immunotherapy. In the 1890s Coley observed the beginning of a spontaneous regression of tumor for some of the cancer patients who developed infection. He predicted that the immune response of the body to infection, which attacks infection, may attack cancer as well. Coley himself started to use a combination of bacterial toxins in the treatment of cancer patients although that practice was not popular at that time.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: Modern Immunotherapy – A Shift Towards Precision

The real innovation to modern immunotherapy started at the end of the 20th century with the identification of monoclonal antibodies, artificial molecules that are purposely made to interact with a particular cell. The manipulations of the immune system became ever more refined during the 1990s, resulting in approval for the use of the interferon in the treatment of melanoma and kidney cancer, followed by the first successful immune checkpoint inhibitor, Ipilimumab (Yervoy) in 2011.

The approval of Ipilimumab initiated a new era for immunotherapy and may be used to treat a wider spectrum of tumor diseases by targeted immune attack.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: Types of Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy has become various types, each of which addresses different points within the immune system versus different kinds of tumors. Some of the most common forms include:-

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a new generation of medicine that has changed cancer treatment by suppressing the “brakes” of the immune system, in order that it would be able to attack cancer cells now in a more robust manner. Malignant cells frequently employ checkpoint proteins (e.g., PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA-4) to avoid immune monitoring. By inhibiting these proteins, immune checkpoint inhibitors can enhance the immune system’s response to cancer.

Examples of checkpoint inhibitors include:-

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and Nivolumab (Opdivo) – Drugs against PD-1 protein that enable the T-cell to identify and kill cancer cells.

Ipilimumab (Yervoy) – Selective CTLA-4 and has demonstrated clinical activity for the treatment of melanoma and other carcinomas.

CAR-T Cell Therapy

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy is a transformative therapeutic technology, wherein the patient’s own T-cells are engineered to more effectively target and destroy cancer cells. This therapy is particularly effective in blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. In CAR-T therapy, T-cells are removed from the patient’s blood, engineered in a laboratory to express receptors specific to the cancer cells, and then infused back into the patient. These re-engineered cells are then more suitable to discriminate and destroy cancer.

Monoclonal Antibodies

Laboratories design monoclonal antibodies as therapeutics that recognize particular antigens on the surface of cancer cells. These antibodies can either directly eliminate cancer cells or mark them for the immune system’s elimination. They can also be conjugated to toxic drugs or radioisotopes to provide more specific therapy.

For example: –

Trastuzumab (Herceptin) binds to the HER2 protein present in certain breast cancers and has significantly enhanced survival in those patients.

Rituximab (Rituxan) binds to CD20 protein on B cells and doctors administer it to treat non-Hodgkin lymphomas.

Oncolytic Virus Therapy

Oncolytic virus therapy is a treatment that utilizes genetically engineered viruses that selectively kill cancer cells.  virus therapy selectively infects and replicates within cancer cells, causing their death. This process not only kills cancer cells but also stimulates the immune system to target and eliminate cancer throughout the body. Clinical trials have shown efficacy in treating solid tumors like melanoma and glioblastoma.

Cancer Vaccines

preventive vaccines and therapeutic vaccines.

Preventive vaccines: The HPV vaccine inhibits the infection with human papillomavirus and subsequent cervical and other cancers.

Therapeutic vaccines: Scientists design these vaccines to treat existing cancers by stimulating the immune system to recognize and attack tumor cells. An example is Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) for the treatment of bladder cancer.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: Success Stories of Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy has resulted in some of the most encouraging achievements in cancer therapy, in particular cancers that were very hard to treat.

Melanoma

Melanoma, as a skin cancer, is one of the cancers so far with impressive advances using immunotherapy. Researchers have reported excellent survival rates for drugs such as Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and Nivolumab (Opdivo), even in advanced melanoma patients.
These treatments have allowed patients with advanced melanoma to live longer and with fewer side effects compared to traditional chemotherapy.

Lung Cancer

LUNG CANCER, Especially NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER (NSCLC), has also improved due to immunotherapy. Researchers are expanding immunotherapy to more cancers and combining it with other treatments.

Hodgkin Lymphoma

Immunotherapy has also cured Hodgkin lymphoma, a malignancy of the lymphatic system. Nivolumab and Pembrolizumab have been successful with patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma, providing new hope where conventional chemotherapy had failed.

Challenges and Limitations

Although immunotherapy presents immense opportunities, it is not without problems. Some of the primary limitations include:-

Side effects: Despite being milder than conventional therapies, immunotherapy can still have side effects (for example, fatigue, skin rash, immune-related adverse events in which the immune system harms surrounding healthy tissue).

Not effective for all patients: A number of patients are unresponsive to immunotherapy, and researchers must determine who will respond to immunotherapy.

High cost: Immunotherapy drugs are costly and thus inaccessible to many patients, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: The Future of Immunotherapy

The future of immunotherapy is hopeful, with continuing research on how to better optimize its benefit and accessibility.

Researchers are expanding immunotherapy to more cancers and exploring immune combination therapies with chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and radiation. Furthermore, researchers are devising increasingly individualized designs to individualize immunotherapy with regard to a patient’s genetic background and tumoural properties.
Emerging AI and machine learning will enhance immunotherapy by recommending the best treatments for individual patients.

Conclusion: Precision at the Forefront of Cancer Treatment

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, offering more effective, targeted therapies with fewer side effects than traditional treatments. As the field continues to evolve, the potential for curing or controlling previously untreatable cancers becomes more achievable. As precision medicine advances, immunotherapy for cancer will lead treatment, transforming oncology and offering hope to millions worldwide.

TAGGED:Immunotherapy for Cancer
Share This Article
Facebook Pinterest Whatsapp Whatsapp Copy Link Print
Share
Leave a Comment Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

[Ruby_E_Template slug="healthcare-sidebar"]

You Might Also Like

Probiotics Gut Health
Research & Innovations

The Role of Probiotics in Gut Health

By Amelia Kerr
Blockchain in Healthcare
Research & Innovations

The Role of Blockchain in Securing Patient Data and Improving Transparency

By Amelia Kerr
3d bioprinting technology in modern healthcare
Research & Innovations

Advancements in Bioprinting: Can We 3D Print Human Organs?

By Amelia Kerr
Screen Time and Myopia Risk
Research & Innovations

Study Warns: Just 1 Hour of Screen Time May Raise Myopia Risk

By Amelia Kerr
[Ruby_E_Template slug="healthcare-footer"]
adbanner
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?