Immunotherapy Treatment for Lung Cancer

Comprehensive Guide to Lung Cancer Immunotherapy

Lung cancer is the most common and deadly cancers worldwide. Individuals with a habit of regular smoking have the highest chances of lung cancer. Lung cancer risk also increases with the length of time and number of cigarettes individual smoke. If the individual stop smoking, even after smoking for various years, it can significantly lessen the chances of developing lung cancer.

 As a matter of fact, lung cancer also can occur in individuals who have never smoked in their entire life. According to a research, lung cancer affects approximately 2.1 million population every year and causes around 1.7 million deaths, making it the leading cause of cancer deaths in males as well as females.

However, from the last a few years immunotherapy treatment has brought a new hope to many patients.

What Is Immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that strengthens the immune system to fight against several types of cancer. Compared to other cancer therapies, like radiation therapy and chemotherapy, immunotherapy is both an accessible and affordable option. However, immunotherapy is yet very less common than surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.

Immunotherapy is often used to treat people with stage 3 or stage 4 lung cancer. It is considered as a successful treatment option for both small cell and non-small cell lung cancer.

In general, cancer cells can hide from the immune system or block its response. Immunotherapy works by removing these blocks or boosting the immune system’s ability to find and destroy cancer.

It includes various types of Immunotherapy treatments. Some of them are:

• Checkpoint inhibitors:It blocks stop cancer cells from hiding from your immune system. They assist the immune system to identify cancer cells and attack them, which can eventually stop tumor growth.
• CAR T-cell therapy:CAR T-cell therapy includes modifying a patient’s T-cells to better target cancer.
• Cancer vaccines:Cancer vaccines assist train the immune system to detect cancer cells.
• Monoclonal antibodies: Monoclonal antibodiesare lab-made antibody proteins. They can target specific parts of cancer cells.

Where Can We Receive Immunotherapy Treatments?

Individuals can get immunotherapy at:

• Doctor's office
• A cancer clinic
• A hospital outpatient center

Types of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is mainly divided into two types. Let’s discuss them briefly.

1. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC): Small cell lung cancer is less known type, but is growing rapidly. It accounts for around 10-15% of all known lung cancer cases.
2. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): Non-small cell lung cancer is the well- known type of lung cancer. It accounts for around 85-90% of all known lung cancers cases.

Both Small cell lung cancer and Non-small cell lung cancer can be treated and managed with immunotherapy; thus the approach and effectiveness can differ.

Immunotherapy for NSCLC

In recent years, checkpoint inhibitors like nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and atezolizumab have become standard treatments for advanced NSCLC.

Checkpoint inhibitors target proteins like PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4. These proteins normally help keep the immune system from attacking healthy cells. But cancer cells use them to avoid being attacked. By blocking these proteins, checkpoint inhibitors allow immune cells to attack cancer more effectively.

Immunotherapy for SCLC

SCLC is more aggressive and spreads quickly. For many years, chemotherapy was the only option. But in 2019, the FDA approved atezolizumab (a checkpoint inhibitor) with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for extensive-stage SCLC 2.

Cost of Lung Cancer Immunotherapy in India

Let us review the table to determine the approximate price of different types of immunotherapy.

Cost of Immunotherapy in the Indian Market

Who Can Benefit from Immunotherapy?

Remember, all lung cancer patients are not eligible for immunotherapy. Doctors look at factors like:

• PD-L1 levels: Higher levels may mean better response.
• Tumor mutation burden (TMB): More mutations can make cancer easier to detect by the immune system.
• Overall health: Patients need to be healthy enough to handle treatment.

What are the Side Effects of Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer

The common side effects of Immunotherapy for lung cancer include:

• Cough
• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Itchy Skin
• Skin rash
• Loss of appetite
• Pain in the Stomach
• Joint or, muscle pain

To Sum Up

Immunotherapy has changed the way lung cancer is treated. It has given a new hope to the patients who previously had few options. While it is not a cure for everyone, but it has helped many people live a longer and happier lives.

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