Tumor Immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy aids the body's immune system to identify and eliminate cancer cells, using vaccines, oncolytic viruses, activated patient T cells, and immune checkpoint regulators.

Treatment vaccines are designed using cells from the patient, like dendritic cells, which are loaded with tumor antigens to stimulate an immune response.

Alternatively, oncolytic virus therapy uses native or engineered viruses to infect cancer cells selectively.

For example, T-VEC, a genetically modified herpes virus, can selectively lyse cancer cells and release tumor antigens for additional cytotoxic T cell responses.

In contrast, adoptive cell therapy modifies a patient's T cells, which can be edited to express chimeric antigen receptors or CARs.

Once reinfused, these CAR T cells can directly bind and destroy specific cancer cells.

Some tumor cells exploit binding partners of immune checkpoint proteins, such as CTLA-4 on T cells, down-regulating immune response.

Antibodies, like ipilimumab, are immune checkpoint inhibitors that block CTLA-4 from interacting with the tumor cells, enhancing T cell proliferation against tumor antigens.