Bone cancer treatment with immunotherapy

Immunotherapy drugs help the patient's defense system recognize and attack bone cancer cells. Natural human defense can distinguish healthy cells from dangerous ones. That is helped by "control points" – proteins that work as "switches" signaling danger or its absence. If the altered cells contain a unique protein, the body considers them normal and does not take any action. The drug blocks this protein and does not allow the tumor to disguise itself as normal tissue. That triggers and enhances the immune response. As a result, bone cancer stops growing and slowly decreases. Bone cancer immunotherapy involves introducing antitumor drugs into the body: cytokines, monoclonal antibodies, and tumor vaccines. The treatment is typically administered as an injection with a specific interval (from 14 to 40 days). Oncologists usually do not advise having immunotherapy as the first treatment for bone cancer. However, it's successfully used as an additional treatment to chemotherapy or radiation or as a secondary option. After immunotherapy, the immune system retains the ability to recognize cancer cells. And if they reappear, it can cope with them better. That is called immune memory, which helps prolong remission for longer.