| Cancer immunotherapy
refers to a diverse set of therapeutic strategies designed to
induce the patient's own immune system to fight the tumor.
Contemporary methods for generating an immune response against
tumours include intravesical BCG immunotherapy for superficial
bladder cancer, and use of interferons and other cytokines to
induce an immune response in renal cell carcinoma and melanoma
patients. Vaccines to generate specific immune responses are the
subject of intensive research for a number of tumours, notably
malignant melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. Sipuleucel-T is a
vaccine-like strategy in late clinical trials for prostate
cancer in which dendritic cells from the patient are loaded with
prostatic acid phosphatase peptides to induce a specific immune
response against prostate-derived cells.
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation ("bone marrow
transplantation" from a genetically non-identical donor) can be
considered a form of immunotherapy, since the donor's immune
cells will often attack the tumor in a phenomenon known as
graft-versus-tumor effect. For this reason, allogeneic HSCT
leads to a higher cure rate than autologous transplantation for
several cancer types, although the side effects are also more
severe.
Treatment Symptom control
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Cancer
Classification
1. Nomenclature
2. Adult cancers
3. Childhood cancers
Signs and symptoms
Diagnosis
1. Investigation
2. Biopsy
Treatment
1. Surgery
2. Radiation therapy
3. Chemotherapy
4. Targeted therapies
5. Immunotherapy
6. Hormonal therapy
7. Symptom control
8. Complementary and alternative
9. Treatment trials
Prognosis
1. Emotional impact
Causes
1. Chemical carcinogens
2. Ionizing radiation &
Infectious diseases
3. Hormonal imbalances
& Immune system dysfunction
4. Heredity & Other causes
Pathophysiology
1. Epigenetics
2. Oncogenes
3. Tumor suppressor genes
4. Cancer cell biology
4.1 Clonal evolution
4.2 Biological properties of cancer cells
Prevention
1. Modifiable ("lifestyle") risk factors
2. Diet
3. Vitamins
4. Chemoprevention
5. Genetic testing
6. Vaccination
7. Screening
Epidemiology
History
Research |
