Unlocking Potential Cure with Immunotherapy: A New Way to Cure Cancer. 

Cancer, this name is fair enough to give you chills, and in this technological era where it is rapidly growing day by day because there are many new diseases that affect people's health, and to cure this, health professionals are working very hard to innovate new ways or therapies. Many health researchers have tried to find various ways to cure cancers, and among them, one of the therapies where doctors see a potential cure for different cancers. There is no doubt that different types of cancer require different cure procedures, and what type of therapy you will need can only be determined by doing diagnostics. 

On this page, you will find out about one such therapy that will be used as an effective way to cure cancer, and that is done through Immunotherapy and specifically about the CART-cell therapy. By the end of this page, you will have enough information about the drugs, side effects, advancements, and much more about cancer Immunotherapy.

How Will Immunotherapy Unlock the Cure for Cancer Once and For All?

The possibility of immunotherapy has unlocked the cure for cancer and this has been using by the many physician as an effective way to treat many cancereous problems. To understand how it works, you must have the understanding of how our immunesystem works and how cancer affects it.

• The role of Our Immune system is a network of chemicals, tissues, and organs, including lymph nodes, tonsils, bone marrow, white blood cells, and more. This network tries every possible thing to protect the body from abnormal bodies, which targets infections like cancer cells. It recognizes and attacks the target cell and remembers so that the next time they appear in the body, it can easily recognize them. 

• When the immune system fails to kill all abnormal cells, they develop, find ways to stop the immune system, and become cancer. Generally, they set checkpoints so the immune system can recognize them or mutate themselves over time. This is what cancer makes incurable. 

Cancer immunotherapy drugs

Modern immunotherapy can be a great countermeasure to cancer-causing cells, using checkpoints, inhibitors, or other drugs. Here are some of the major immunotherapy drugs that target the PD-1 and CTLA-4 receptors. 

• Common checkpoint inhibitors: Ipilimumab (Yervoy), Pembrolizumab (Keytruda), Nivolumab (Opdivo), Atezolizumab (Tecentriq)

• Common cytokines: Interleukin-2 (IL-2), Interferons-alpha (IFN-alpha)

How it is given to patients-

Immunotherapy must be given to the patients in doses and for a number of cycles as per the diagnoses. There are several forms of immunotherapy that may be used to give patients through Intravenous (IV), oral, topical (skin), and intravesical. 

CART-cell therapy advancements

CART-cell therapy represents significant advancements and generalizes the future of cancer treatment. It has shown success in treating cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. Unlike other treatments, CART-cells are programmed to minimize harm to healthy tissues and offer long-term protection, working as a living defense system in the body. Researchers are constantly working to develop new and improved CART-cell therapies adn optimize CART-cell design that could lead cures to new heights and towards more affordability and accessibility. 

Side Effects of Immunotherapy

While treating a patient with immunotherapy, there may be some side effects that are observed in patients, but these will be reduced after the completion of the first dose or part of the treatment cycle, and most of them are general flu-like symptoms. These are shared below-

• Nausea & Vomiting

• Fatigue

• Diarrhea

• High BP

• Fluid buildup in the legs

• Fever & Chills

• Pain, Weakness, or Headaches

• Rashes & Itching

What types of cancer can be treated with immunotherapy?

When it comes to treating cancer with immunotherapy, then, the list is long. Some treatable cancer types are most commonly found and effectively treated by immunotherapy and has shown remarkable success even in advanced cases. Since every cancer type is unique its immunology impact each cancer in different ways. 

Immunotherapy treatable Cancer types.

• Brain and Lung Cancer

• Melanoma and Bone Marrow Cancer

• Advanced Bladder

• Liver and Kidney Cancer

• Breast and Cervical Cancer

• Leukemia and Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma

• Ovarian and Prostate Cancer

• Stomach and Pancreatic Cancer

How much does immunotherapy cost and is it covered by insurance?

Before deciding to pay, it is important to understand the effectiveness of the immunotherapy on the patient's condition and what could be the total cost of that treatment. Take a general case where cancer has been diagnosed in the early stage, and the oncologist has prescribed immunotherapy. Then, it would be expensive for you since checkpoint inhibitors come with several thousand dollars per dose. On average, your total cost of medication for immunotherapy will be somewhere around $30k or more. 

Is immunotherapy covered by Medicare or insurance?

Since, your immunotherapy has several rounds so your medication cost may affect your pocket and there are many people who can not even afford this type of medication. For them there are insurances and medicare that covers immunotherapy treatment for cancer which totally depends on the medicare plan you have opted. in general, your medicare can cover 50 to 100%  of  cost of the treatment for immunotherapy according to their terms and conditions. 

How long does it take for immunotherapy to start working?

Immunotherapy promises biological treatment for various types of cancer; however, their it will gonna response totally depends on the patients as there are chances that in some patients, immunotherapy will be more effective, whereas, in others, it may not. An effective way to determine whether immunotherapy is working well is for a physician to monitor the patient's diagnostics and progress continuously. 

When it comes to knowing how long it takes to start working, you may find that Immunotherapy shows positive results on different types of cancer or tumors quickly as well as delayed based on its nature and stage, and for all these, it may take a few weeks or months to start working and see measurable response. 

Signs to know Immunotherapy is working-

Typically, the positive results of immunotherapy are measured by checking the decrease in the size of the tumor, although there are some side effects like inflammation that can be considered a positive sign that immunotherapy is affecting the immune system of the body; however, many patients who show positive responses have no side effects.