How Immunotherapy Is Used To Treat Cancer

Adoptive T-Cell Therapy

Adoptive T-cell therapy attempts to boost the body’s natural ability to fight cancer. Specifically, it does this through the body’s T cells, a certain type of white blood cell. These cells contain receptors, which are their own proteins. These bind to foreign antigens, triggering the immune system to destroy foreign particles. In this treatment, doctors will take T cells harvested from a cancerous tumor to the lab and modify them so they are better able to spot foreign antigens and specific cancer cells. This process can take anywhere from two to eight weeks, at which point they are reintroduced to the body through a needle.

Continue reading to learn about the third type of immunotherapy used to treat cancer.