Cancer Treatments | Immunotherapy

What is Immunotherapy / How does immunotherapy work


Our body’s natural immune system protects the body from infection against bacteria and viruses. However, when the immune system is not strong enough to mount a defence or when the immune cells do not recognize cancer cells as ‘foreign’, the cancer remains undetected and is free to grow and spread.

Immunotherapy is a kind of cancer treatment that activates the patient’s immune system’s natural cancer-fighting abilities. Immunotherapy aims to trigger our immune system’s natural abilities to fight off cancer. Some categories of immunotherapy include monoclonal antibodies, checkpoint inhibitors, vaccines, immune system modulators and T cell transfer therapy. The suitability of immunotherapy is dependent on the type and stage of cancer and your doctors will determine if it is the right treatment for you.