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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Your immune system is made up of white blood cells plus the organs and tissues of your lymph system, such as your bone marrow. Other components of your immune system include certain proteins, such as antibodies that fight infections and other invaders, and cytokines that instruct your immune cells on how to respond to threats. The immune system's main job is to help your body fight off diseases and stay healthy.Immunotherapy drugs can help boost your immune system to fight certain diseases. Several immunotherapy drugs have been approved to fight cancer, and hundreds more are being tested in clinical trials (research studies that use volunteers to test new medicines). Researchers are also studying how to target harmful immune cells while trying to protect the ones you need to stay healthy.If your doctor suggests immunotherapy to fight cancer or any other condition, there’s a lot to talk to them about before you decide if it’s right for you.Immunotherapy for cancer works in two ways. Some drugs can stimulate the immune system to work more aggressively at identifying and fighting cancer cells. Other drugs, synthetic versions of various parts of your immune system, can improve how effectively your natural immune system hunts down cancer cells.Immunotherapy vs. chemotherapyChemotherapy and immunotherapy are two commonly used cancer treatments, but they differ in some key ways. One of the main differences is that chemotherapy uses drugs that destroy cells, including both cancer and healthy cells. Immunotherapy doesn’t directly attack cancer cells but instead helps the body’s own immune system to more effectively identify and destroy cancer cells.Conventional autoimmune disease therapy usually involves medications that suppress the body’s overall immune system response. As a result, taking immunosuppressant drugs puts you at a higher risk for a variety of infections and illnesses.Immunotherapy drugs instead target components of the immune system that are causing specific autoimmune conditions such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis (MS), and others. Immunotherapy drugs can help prevent the worsening of symptoms or progression of certain features of an autoimmune disorder.For example, if you take immunotherapy drugs for MS, those medications won’t heal existing lesions in your nervous system, but they may help prevent new lesions from forming.Another area where immunotherapy is helping people boost their immune systems to stay healthy is allergy treatment. You are given gradually larger doses of allergens you're allergic to. The idea is that your immune system becomes less sensitive to the allergen over time. So, when you are exposed to the allergen in your home or any environment, your symptoms will be minor if you have any reaction at all.Oral immunotherapyOral immunotherapy is used to treat food allergies. You start with a small amount of an allergen, such as peanut protein, and gradually consume more over several months. The allergens are administered at an allergist’s office or in a clinical setting so your reaction can be monitored and treatment can be provided immediately if needed.Oral immunotherapy is not a cure but is meant to increase your
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