New cancer treatment

The cancer industry is working on the invention of new cancer treatments. As chemotherapy and radiation therapy are the old treatments for most cancers, some have promising results. However, these treatments have more effects, as they attack normal cells as well, so researchers try to invent treatments with fewer side effects, such as targeted therapies.

The targeted therapies only target cancer cells and do not affect other body cells. In chemotherapy and radiation therapy patient suffer more side effects and suffer more.

The new treatments include

• Immunotherapy: New cancer treatment:

As the name immunotherapy indicates, these drugs boost immunity. Drugs used in immunotherapy are basically given to boost the immunity of a person. Moreover, on boosting immunity of a person’s immunity, the immune system becomes strong and fights against the cancer cells or any infection occurring again and again.

The immunotherapy works in the following three ways to fight cancer:

• Nonspecific immune stimulator:

 This type of immunotherapy works by boosting the immune system in a general way. It enhances over all immunity of the patient to fight the cancer. For example, in urinary bladder cancer, the drug BCG is used after the removal of the tumor. By injecting the drug into the urinary bladder to enhance overall immunity to kill the remaining cancer cells or prevent cancer recurrence.

• T-Cell transfer therapy:

In this type of immunotherapy, specific immune cells called T cells, which are naturally designed to fight infections in the body, are separated from the patient’s blood and changed into more powerful cells to target cancer cells. This phenomenon is used in CAR-T therapy, which is used for aggressive and recurring blood cancers.

• Immune checkpoint inhibitor:

These medications work by blocking some proteins that block the patient’s immunity to attack cancer cells. When these proteins are blocked than the T-Cells attack the cancer cells.

Under what conditions is immunotherapy used?

Immunotherapy is used in the treatment of cancer initially. The immunotherapy concept is used in vaccinations, and new researches are further working on the use of this concept to treat infections, such as bacterial resistance, viral and fungal infections, and some autoimmune diseases.

Are there any side effects of immunotherapy?

The side effects of immunotherapy are much different than the chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The mechanism of immunotherapy is totally different from that of other cancer treatments. Moreover, the function of immunotherapy works on strengthening immunity, whereas the function of chemotherapy and radiation therapy is to kill the cancer cells as well as the normal cells. Due to this reason, the side effects are also different.

Moreover, the side effects related to immunotherapy depend upon the following factors. tors

• Age and physical health of the patient
• Dose of the drug
• Duration of the treatment
• Cancer type
•  

The following are some side effects of immunotherapy.

• Joint pain specially the knee joints
• Fever and chills
• Body rash
• Difficulty in breathing
• Flu-like symptoms
• A headache that does not go away. This is because of the inflammation of the pituitary gland, so if the headache persists after immunotherapy, an MRI of the brain should be considered to rule out the inflammation of the pituitary gland or other inflammatory changes.
• Sometimes weight gain also happens due to fluid retention and inflammation.

How to minimize the side effects of immunotherapy?

The healthcare provider would never know what allergic symptom the patient will show during the drug infusion. However, it is recommended that with some immunotherapeutic drugs, premedication with corticosteroid to minimize or prevent allergic reactions.

What are the preventive measures against immunotherapy treatment? Or precautions made during immunotherapy?

Preventive measures should always be taken while administering immunotherapy drugs.

Patient  home teaching:

Teaching about important side effects and other precautionary measure play an important role in the successful treatment plan. Patients on immunotherapy should be taught the preventive measures before the treatment. The following preventive measures should be considered.

Infection prevention methods:  New cancer treatment:

It is necessary to keep away from infections such as the flu, urinary tract infections, or gastrointestinal infections.to get infection while on treatment could weaken the immune system. Furthermore, getting infections during treatment could lead to skipping or delaying the doses or cycles of the treatment. So, antibiotics beside killing the bacteria/treating the infections, also suppress the immune system of the patient. Therefore, it is very important to keep away from infections.

 What drugs can interact with immunotherapy medication?

It is recommended not use self-medication during immunotherapy treatment. Many of the medications have drug to drug interaction with immunotherapy medicines, such as:

• Antibiotics
• Corticosteroids
• Proton pump inhibitors

The above-mentioned medicine should be used with caution with immunotherapeutic drugs, as this medicine has immunosuppressive properties.

Keep yourself neat and clean:

Personal hygiene, such as frequent hand washing, taking a daily bath, mouth care, and wearing clean clothes, plays an important role in preventing infections. So, encourage patients to keep themselves neat and clean.

Proper diet and exercise:

During chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or immunotherapy, the important thing that keeps the patient physically strong is diet and proper exercise. For cancer patient taking a balanced diet is a challenge due to gastrointestinal upset. Patients feel nausea and vomiting with cancer drugs. The following tips may help patients to take diet during cancer treatment to keep them physically fit.

• Take Small frequent meals and avoid heavy meals
• Avoid fatty and oily food
• Take plenty of fluids to maintain hydration level and keep the kidneys fresh.
• Avoid spicy food
• Take dry as well as fresh fruit
• Keep the dining environment neat and clean
• Avoid street food to prevent infections

By practicing the above-mentioned tips, one could keep the dietary intake in balance.

Moreover, patients on immunotherapy should know the expected side effects, preventive measures, drug to drug interactions while on the treatment. Infection prevention practices are very important for patients to keep themselves away from getting infections. However, patients should be encouraged to discuss the side effects or any unusual symptoms with the healthcare provider to manage the side effects in a timely manner