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Cancer Services

Immunotherapy & Targeted Therapies

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a treatment that uses the body's own immune system to fight diseases such as cancer.

The immune system's purpose is to attack any cell that it sees as unhealthy or abnormal. Cancer cells can hide from the immune system or even stop the immune system from attacking them. Immunotherapy can boost or change how the immune system works so it can find and attack cancer cells.

Immunotherapy works better for some types of cancers than others. It's used by itself for some of these cancers, but for others is seems to work better when used with other types of treatment.

Most immunotherapies do not include any chemical, but are biological therapies such as antibodies, proteins or cells made by consistent or living organisms.

Immunotherapy helps fight cancer by:

Boosting the immune system
Marking cancer cells so they are unable to hide from your immune system and your body can find and destroy them
Helping the immune system find cancer cells, so doctors can provide targeted treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation directly to the cancer cells

Targeted Therapies

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs designed to target cancer cells without affecting normal cells in your body. A targeted therapy can be used by itself or in combination with other treatments, such as chemotherapy, surgery or radiation therapy.