Oral cavity cancer treatment with immunotherapy

Immunotherapy drugs are used to treat oral cavity cancer, stimulating the patient's immune system to find and destroy malignant cells. In addition, it usually acts on specific proteins to enhance the immune response. As a result, treatment has fewer serious side effects than, for example, chemotherapy. Some drugs, such as monoclonal antibodies, affect cancer in several ways. They may also be considered targeted drug therapy since they block a particular cancer cell protein, preventing its growth. An essential immune system part is its ability to keep itself from attacking normal cells. It uses "control points" — proteins on immune cells that must be turned on (or off) to trigger an immune response. Cancer cells sometimes use these "control points" to avoid immune attacks. The so-called control point inhibitors Pembrolizumab and Nivolumab have proven effective in treating oral cavity cancer. Sometimes, their use alone or combined with chemotherapy reduces tumors or slows their growth. They can also treat patients whose cancer has relapsed, has metastases, or cannot be surgically removed. Most medications are administered intravenously every few weeks.