Types of Immunotherapy

We offer many types of immunotherapy to more effectively treat each person's disease. Each type of immunotherapy works differently, but they all influence the immune system's ability to recognize and fight cancer. 

Some immunotherapies are now standard treatment for certain cancers, while others are only available at our Precision Immunotherapy Clinic.

Checkpoint inhibitors are antibodies that interfere with cancer cells' ability to evade immune system attack. These drugs are now used to treat many cancers including:

• Melanoma
  
• Non-small cell lung cancer
  
• Kidney and bladder cancers
• Head and neck cancers
• Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Adoptive cellular therapy involves collecting and using patients' own white blood cells to treat their cancers. CAR T-cell therapy is now used to treat certain non-Hodgkin lymphomas, including:

• B-cell lymphoma
• B-cell precursor acute lymphocytic leukemia
  

Cytokine therapy uses proteins called interferons and interleukins, produced by white blood cells, to activate the immune system to kill cancer cells. Interleukin-2 and interferon alpha are cytokine therapies for:

• Melanoma
• Kidney cancer
• Certain lymphomas and leukemias
  

Cancer vaccines help the body recognize and more effectively destroy cancer cells. Some treatment vaccines are injections. Others require doctors to collect blood, enrich it with cells and then re-infuse the mixture intravenously. Treatment vaccines are only available through participation in a pilot research study or clinical trial at our Precision Immunotherapy Clinic.