We’re entering a hopeful new era with the development of immunotherapies, which use the power of your own immune system to fight cancer. Here's an introduction to one type, called CAR T-cell therapy.
Immunotherapy
Results from the CheckMate 214 clinical trial show that combined therapy with two immunotherapy drugs, nivolumab and ipilimumab, can be very effective in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer.
A new clinical trial open at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is currently investigating whether beta blockers, which calm the body’s response to stress, can boost immunotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma.
Although most patients on immunotherapies experience few — if any — side effects related to treatment, serious side effects can occur. Find out which symptoms to watch for.
Newer targeted treatments like immunotherapy have emerged in recent years and appear to be not only more effective than conventional therapy but also better tolerated, because unlike chemotherapy and radiation, these newer approaches are designed to kill cancer cells without damaging healthy ones.
Judy was diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer in 2016. Almost a year after her diagnosis, with the help of Keytruda, Judy’s tumor has shrunk 95 percent.
The incidence of liver cancer is increasing, making primary liver (and bile duct) cancer the fastest-rising cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Experts attribute this to the high prevalence of fatty liver disease, a condition associated with insulin resistance, obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.
Roswell Park is one of very few institutions in the United States equipped to offer clinical trials of a full range of immunotherapies. How do these treatments work, and what new immunotherapy clinical trials are underway or close to being launched?
Clinical trials are a key reason why childhood cancer treatments and survival rates have improved significantly in recent years.
Dr. Gurkamal Chatta and his colleagues are conducting a phase I clinical trial of an immunotherapy for men with metastatic prostate cancer that has progressed in spite of standard treatment. “We are targeting an area of need where there are really no other effective therapies.”
“Initially, ovarian cancer, melanoma, and some sarcomas are the three main targets,” says Dr. Koya, “but the clinical trial is open for patients with other cancers who meet the eligibility requirements."
Collected last week from a patient with late-stage ovarian cancer, these are not ordinary T cells; they have been altered and multiplied in the hope that when they are given back to her, they will launch a devastating attack on her cancer cells.