The concept of using your body’s own resources to fight cancer dates back more than 100 years, but immunotherapy for cancer has recently emerged in the public eye thanks to incredible advancements over the last 10 years. Is this cutting-edge treatment right for you?

Functions of the immune system

Traditional cancer treatments, such as radiation and chemotherapy, have focused on fighting tumors from the “outside.” Immunotherapy is different because it involves boosting your immune system’s ability to attack cancer cells naturally.

Your immune system operates much like an army, with each cell having a specific duty that contributes to the overall function.

• Cells on the “front line” recognize foreign bodies that have entered your system.

• Other cells take on the actual “battle” of attacking and defeating those invaders.

• “Messenger” cells tie everything together by facilitating communications between the cells.

How immunotherapy helps your body fight cancer

Cancer presents a unique challenge for this normally efficient process. Since cancer cells develop from your body’s own cells, the immune system has difficulty recognizing them, which gives these mutated cells a chance to multiply.

Immunotherapy for cancer involves complex interactions, but they generally fall into one of two categories. Some treatments make cancer cells more identifiable to your immune system. Others boost your system’s immune response, which includes actions such as blocking certain factors that enable growth of a tumor.

Our Issels® center has been successfully using immunotherapy for cancer for more than 60 years. Visit our website to read and watch testimonials from patients of all ages who have benefited from our personalized non-toxic treatments.