Mesothelioma Law

Immunotherapy Treatment for Mesothelioma and Other Types of Cancer

In the late 1800’s, a New York surgeon named William Coley discovered that injecting postoperative cancer patients with certain kinds of bacteria helped their bodies combat cancer cells. By stimulating the body’s immune system with an antigen that his patients’ bodies identified as a threat, Dr. Coley found that some cancer patients were living longer and, in some cases, immunotherapy added decades to their lives. From those early experiments, immunotherapy has evolved into a smaller but very viable form of cancer treatment and researchers are continuing to develop new immunotherapy methods to this day.

What is Immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy treatment for mesothelioma and other types of cancer uses the body’s own immune system to identify cancer cells as foreign tissue and eliminate them through natural processes. Our immune systems are amazingly adept at targeting antigens of all kinds, attacking them, and removing them. One of the many challenges for researchers to overcome is that unlike bacterial infections, viruses, parasites, and other agents that threaten our health, in most cases, the body’s immune system does not always identify cancer cells as a threat.

This situation, coupled with the fact that some treatments such as chemotherapy can impair the function of our immune systems, presents a unique set of obstacles for medical researchers to overcome in their pursuit of innovative ways to use our own immune systems to protect is from cancer.

Types of Immunotherapy

• Active Immunotherapy – In active immunotherapy, specialized cells called T cells are activated which are analogous to a private security force. These white blood cells constantly monitor our bodies, identify bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other antigens, and eliminate them. Cancer patients get injected with specialized T cells that can identify cancer cells and then bring the immune system’s natural defenses to bear on the cancer.
• Passive Immunotherapy – Also known as adoptive immunotherapy, passive immunotherapy involves giving a cancer patient antibodies that have been developed in a test tube. Another approach involves removing some of the patient’s T cells, culturing the cells in a laboratory, and then injecting a massive dose of the treated cells back into the patient to fight the cancer. In a similar approach, lymphocytes are taken from a cancerous tumor and are used to create tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes which are then re-introduced to the patient to fight the cancer.

While lesser known than many treatments for mesothelioma and other cancers, immunotherapy is yet another weapon that medical researchers are investigating and refining to ‘boost’ our immune systems to fight cancer cells. Used alone, or in combination with other cancer treatments, immunotherapy may be able to ‘train’ our bodies to better recognize cancer cells’ threat and greatly enhance our ability to find a lasting cure for cancer.