What Are the Side Effects of Immunotherapy? Published: February 10, 2016 Updated: May 22, 2017

[D.ap]

“New drugs that stimulate the patient’s immune system to attack tumors have achieved some dramatic and long-lasting benefits in several forms of cancer. A few drugs are already approved for wide use and many more are in the research pipeline. Because these immunotherapy agents work differently than chemotherapy, they can cause side effects different from those associated with standard treatments.
One of cancer cells’ survival strategies is to hide from immune soldier T-cells and exploit natural “checkpoint” proteins that suppress T-cell activity. Some immunotherapy agents disable these checkpoints, removing the brakes so T-cells can mount a stronger immune attack on cancer cells. In this way, the drugs don’t directly assault the cells; instead, they free the patient’s own defensive forces to destroy cancers.”



http://blog.dana-farber.org/insight/201 ... notherapy/