The role of the immune system in cancer immunotherapy

Abstract

Cancer is a globally distributed disease that has a high mortality rate and is associated with various risk factors such as smoking, pollution, excessive sun exposure, as well as genetic factors and hereditary genetic alterations. Its development is associated with alterations at a molecular level, generating cell mutations.

Traditional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy aim to destroy cancer cells or prevent them from multiplying, but they have unfavorable side effects. Thus, the most widely studied therapeutic technique today is immunotherapy, which interferes with the patient's immune system, amplifying its response through the mechanisms of influence of specific cell receptors.

Immunotherapy is a more specific and less reactive way of treating cancer, divided into active and passive. Active immunotherapy is a strategy to restore the patient's immune system, either through the administration of non-specific immunological agents and cytokines, or through vaccines. Passive immunotherapy, on the other hand, is an approach that directly supplies the body with cells and antibodies that are ready for the immune response.

In line with the above, there are various models of immunotherapy, including CAR-T cells, monoclonal antibodies, checkpoint inhibitors and vaccines.

This revolutionary cancer treatment is proving to be a hopeful way of fighting cancer in a precise and effective way, with low rates of side effects.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.56238/sevened2024.012-011