In the past, cancer treatment was mainly about killing or removing cancer cells and tumours, using things like chemotherapy, surgery or radiation. In 2018, James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering cancer therapy by inhibiting negative immune regulation. Cancer immunotherapy is all about getting the immune system to destroy tumours. There are all kinds of strategies being used or tested right now. Studies in different cancers have shown that this approach can significantly improve survival rates and disease-free periods. When combined with conventional treatments, its efficacy is enhanced by 20–30%. One of the oldest forms of cancer immunotherapy is the use of the BCG vaccine, which was originally developed to vaccinate against tuberculosis and was later found to be useful in treating bladder cancer. BCG immunotherapy induces both local and systemic immune responses. We know a lot about how BCG immunotherapy works, but there's still a lot to learn.
Monoclonal antibodies were first used in cancer therapy in 1997 with rituximab, an anti-CD20 antibody for treating B cell lymphoma. Since then, several monoclonal antibodies have been approved for treating various blood cancers and solid tumours. The cells then destroy the tumour cells that express the antigen. Topical immunotherapy uses an immune enhancement cream (imiquimod) which produces interferon, causing the recipient's killer T cells to destroy warts, actinic keratoses, basal cell cancer, vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia, squamous cell cancer, cutaneous lymphoma and superficial melanoma.
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