免疫疗法

One of many treatments for which patients are evaluated.

The 北州癌症中心 offers precision treatments based on each persons type of cancer. One type of treatment is immunotherapy, which can be used to treat a wide variety of cancers.

The immune system works overall to help the body fight off disease. 免疫疗法 uses the patient's own immune system to fight cancer by starting a response within in the body. It does so in such ways as building up the body's defenses or being used to attack invading cancer cells.

免疫疗法 techniques being used to treat cancer include:

• Using immune system proteins. These are made in a lab to attack a specific part of a cancer cell.
• Using immune checkpoint inhibitors. These help the patients immune system attack invading cancer cells.

Among the cancers treated with immunotherapy at Upstate are lung, 乳腺癌和膀胱癌, 和黑素瘤. The tumor treatment teams also assess each patient for their suitability and also will offer clinical trials to patients. Clinical trials are new and novel treatments that provide options for patients; there are several at Upstate that provide immunotherapy treatment. 例如, clinical trials for patients with lung cancer, 包括4期疾病, 可能有资格申请“EA5152-anvil试验." Other lung cancer trials include those for stage 3 disease (AFT-16), and early stage lung cancer after surgery (AFT-09). While many advanced lung cancer patients will qualify for immunotherapy trials, Upstate is also looking to help connect patients at an earlier stage in the disease cycle.

A patient's DNA also holds potential for immunotherapy treatment. By extracting DNA from a solid tumor, or looking for markers in a blood-borne cancer, the genetic signature of a patient's cancer may yield additional, personalized approaches to disease treatment. Upstate has its own molecular pathology diagnostic lab on site that performs this advanced work.

Upstate has been researching cancer and immunotherapy for more than 20 years.