Cancer Immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy is a group of treatments for cancers such as melanoma that help the body's immune system find and attack cancer cells. The best known are immune checkpoint inhibitors, medicines that release natural brakes on immune cells so they can recognise a tumour that had been hiding from them. Unlike chemotherapy, which works by killing cells that divide quickly throughout the body, immunotherapy works through the immune system, so it does not usually cause the hair loss associated with chemotherapy. It is given as an outpatient drip into a vein, in cycles that are often spaced every two to six weeks, and eligibility is guided by biomarker tests on the tumour such as PD-L1 and microsatellite status. For many people with cancers such as lung cancer, melanoma, kidney cancer and lymphoma, it has become an important option, sometimes on its own and sometimes combined with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and it is increasingly sought at specialised centres abroad.