Biological therapy is a kind of treatment for cancer that makes the body’s own immune system kill cancer cells. It is used in the treatment of several types of cancer to avert or slow down the spread of cancer. Biological therapy for cancer usually results in lesser toxic side effects than other cancer treatments. the main purpose of this treatment is to stimulate the immune system to identify and kill cancer cells.
The body’s immune system combats pathogens like germs, throughout the human body. the immune system should recognize cancer as abnormal, while cancer cells also develop an ability to hide from the immune system or it can disable or inhibit the immune system from acting.
In general, biological therapies work by:
Triggering the immune system to attack cancer cells by injecting chemicals that stimulate immune system cells to attack cancer cells. Or a sample of the immune system could be artificially trained in a lab to attack cancer cells before being reintroduced to the system.
Therapy can also target the cancer cells, turning on or off cell signals that help them escape the immune system cells. Where drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors to target specific chemical receptors on cancer cells, blocking the signals the cancer cells send to destroy the immune system.
Who Needs It?
Biological therapy is beneficial in specifically recognizing or targeting cancer cells. This therapy works with the immune system to exclusively destroy cancer cells and free healthy cells. Biological therapy can treat certain types of cancer including the brain, breast, lung, colon, prostate, bladder, kidney, liver, skin, leukemia, head, neck, cervical, ovarian, and lymphoma.