Biological Therapy is a type of treatment that uses substances made from living organisms to treat disease. These substances may occur naturally in the body or may be made in the laboratory. In cancer, some biological therapies stimulate or suppress the immune system to help the body fight cancer.
Other therapies attack specific cancer cells, which may help keep them from growing or kill them. They may also lessen certain side effects caused by some cancer treatments.
Types of biological therapy include immunotherapy (such as cytokines, cancer treatment vaccines, and some antibodies) and some targeted therapies. Also called biological response modifier therapy, biotherapy, and BRM therapy.
The goal of the therapy for cancer is to induce your immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells.
Your body’s immune system fights invaders, such as germs, throughout your body. Your immune system should also recognize cancer cells as abnormal, but it doesn’t always do that. Cancer cells can develop an ability to hide from immune system cells. Or cancer cells can disable or inhibit immune system cells from acting.
In general, biological therapies work by:
Several types of the therapy exist, including:
Many types of biological therapy are available only in clinical trials. Biological therapy for cancer is a very active area of cancer research.