Immunotherapy and Bladder Cancer
The immune system is a natural part of our body. Its role is to get rid of foreign or damaged material and cells before they cause trouble.
Archived from the 2024 edition
Overview
Most of the time, our immune system can find foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses, and destroy them. The immune system uses signals to attack them while leaving healthy cells alone.
Cancer is different from an illness caused by a bacteria or virus. It involves the uncontrolled growth of normal body cells. In other words, cancer cells may not be found by the immune system. Though they look different under the microscope, cancer cells can hide and grow. One way cancer cells hide is to express proteins on their surface to turn-on a "checkpoint" to stop an immune system attack.
In this entry
The archived page carried these sections, in this order.
- What is Immunotherapy?
- What Happens Under Normal Conditions?
- What Happens When Cancer Cells Grow and Hide?
- Key Statistics
- Treatment
- When is the Best Time to Use an Immunotherapy?
- Benefits and Risks of Immunotherapy
- Who is a Good Candidate for Immunotherapy?
- After Treatment
- Are There Long-term Side Effects?