Cancer immunotherapies

Immunotherapy is a clinical mode of treating cancer that complements conventional therapies like surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. While surgery and radiotherapy are used for local treatment, chemotherapy and immunotherapy are applied systematically.

Chemotherapy blocks non-specific mechanisms associated with cell division, while immunotherapy stimulates the immune system to strengthen mechanisms for detecting and eliminating tumor cells.

Because of the diversity of types and stages of cancer, many patients do not have a satisfactory response to existing treatments. In this sense, new experimental approaches are being explored such as anti-tumor vaccines, immunomodulating nanoparticles, viral vectors, chimeric aptamers, recombinant proteins, and monoclonal antibodies. The goal of these strategies is lymphocyte co-stimulation and inhibition of immunosuppression mechanisms that antagonize the anti-tumor response.
These innovative strategies directed at lymphocyte co-stimulation and inhibiting immunosuppression mechanisms demonstrate the potential for developing new therapeutic approaches for cancer.