Immunotherapies

Immunotherapies include vaccine therapy (i.e. autologous vaccines - vaccines made from the patient) or a treatment that includes an immune cytokine. These treatments typically attempt to stimulate an immune response in the patient's body to fight the cancer. Several of these approaches have been tried in treating mesothelioma.
Autologous Vaccine is created when proteins from the patient's tumor cells are made into a vaccine that is designed to cause the patient's body to make antibodies against the tumor.

Immune Cytokine is a protein that is used by various white blood cells to communicate with each other. For example, some cytokines are used to promote inflammation near an infection.

Immune Response is how the body recognizes and defends itself against bacteria, viruses, and substances that appear foreign and harmful.

Immune System is made up of a network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect the body. The cells that are part of this defense system are white blood cells or leukocytes. There are two basic types of leukocytes: (1) the phagocytes that consume invading organisms such as bacteria (the most common type is the neutrophil); (2) the lymphocytes that allow the body to remember and recognize previous invaders. There are two kinds of lymphocytes: B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes.
These are summaries of results of clinical trials that have been made available by Cancer Monthly: The Source for Cancer Treatment Results. The source data are the clinical results reported in the medical literature. To learn more about these treatments click on the icon under "More Information." This will open a new window that will contain the study's abstract. Print out the abstract and share it with your doctor. Your doctor can help you determine if a particular treatment is right for you. For more information about toxicity grades see below. For more treatment results for mesothelioma and many other cancers visit Cancer Monthly.