Mesothelioma

Immunotherapy

The immunotherapy treatment approach concentrates on boosting the immune system to fight off the cancer. Many cancers, such as mesothelioma, deceive the body into thinking that they are normal cells, so the immune system will not fight them off. Doctors are now learning how to force the body to recognize these bad cells and deal with them accordingly. There is some evidence that mesothelioma cells are susceptible to immune mechanisms, and that the potential exists for mesothelioma to be successfully treated through immunological means.

The immune system works by recognizing and reacting to antigens, which are molecules that are present on the surface of all cells. A normal immune system can react to and destroy cells that produce antigens that are foreign, but cannot react to cells that produce "self" antigens. Immunotherapy focuses on making the immune system recognize antigens on cancer cells as foreign, allowing the immune system to destroy those cells.

Active immunotherapy treatments are designed to stimulate the immune system to fight disease. Vaccines are one type of active immunotherapy. Mesothelioma vaccines can be created by removing cancer cells from a mesothelioma patient. The antigens are modified in a laboratory, so they can be recognized by the patient's immune system. Then, they are injected back into the patient.

There are also passive immunotherapy treatments, such as monoclonal antibody therapy. This treatment method involves removing cancer cells from the patient and growing them in a laboratory with other cells that produce antibodies in response to antigens on the cancer cells. Identical antibodies are produced that recognize the same antigen, and these antibodies are then injected into the patient. Once inside the body, the antibodies recognize and bind to tumor cells. If the treatment is successful, the immune system will recognize the monoclonal antibodies and destroy the cancer cells.

Non-specific immunotherapy treatments are based on cytokines, which are molecules that direct and control the immune system. These molecules have a large variety of functions, including enabling different types of immune cells to communicate with one another. Cytokines are usually administered in conjunction with other types of immunotherapy treatments.

Immunotherapy is still in its experimental stage and there is no guarantee of success, although it has been effective in some animal tests. In addition, when it comes to using immunotherapy to treat mesothelioma, the nature of the disease presents some problems. Some immunotherapy drugs require samples of the tumor to understand what kinds of antibodies it contains. Since mesothelioma is such a complicated cancer, there are sometimes not enough distinguishable antibodies within the tumor to make a custom designed drug. Continued research and future studies will continue to test the immunotherapy approach to treating mesothelioma in order to determine its safety and effectiveness.

Patients that are considering immunotherapy or any other mesothelioma treatment, should be aware that they have legal choices to make as well. Many mesothelioma patients or their surviving families have obtained compensation to pay for medical bills and other related expenses through a mesothelioma lawsuit. If you are interested in speaking with a mesothelioma attorney, fill out our free case evaluation form today.