免疫治疗药物 z-bo 2020-09-30 326

　　Due to the high cost of anti-cancer drugs, it is difficult for public and private medical systems to provide patients with the latest treatment methods. If this trend continues, it will become increasingly difficult for patients to receive basic cancer treatment, let alone a new generation of immunotherapy drugs. Immunotherapy is a therapy that targets or manipulates the immune system to fight disease without damaging normal cells.

　　In March 2019, the United States released the first breast cancer immunotherapy drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This medicine, called Tecentriq, is used to treat triple-negative breast cancer. This cancer is resistant to surgery and chemotherapy. It highlights the main benefits of immunotherapy for patients with limited (if any) treatment options.

　　For developing countries like South Africa, it is particularly important to find immunotherapy options in view of the weak national health system and the high price of anti-cancer drugs. The University of Cape Town has established the country's first biotechnology-based medical immunotherapy laboratory, dedicated to the development of new cancer treatment and diagnostic tools.

　　Most cancer research is done in European descent. This means that there is very little data on the population of Africa. The institute aims to bridge this knowledge gap by diagnosing and treating people of African descent, with a view to identifying immunotherapy targets in this underestimated population.

　　There are five main types of immunotherapy: Cancer vaccine: This is a collection of immune cells extracted from cancer patients, which can enhance their ability to manipulate the patient before re-entering the patient to attack the cancer.

　　cytological immunotherapy: This includes the treatment of cytokine patients. Cythins are proteins produced by immune cells that can send signals to other immune cells to kill cancer cells.

　　Antibody-based therapies: These are the largest category of approved immunotherapies and are the focus of major research. Antibodies are proteins produced by human immune cells. They can identify pathogens and cause reactions to eradicate diseased cells or pathogenic factors.

　　Antibodies are like problems, and diseases are like incomplete problems. Therefore, only certain shapes of antibodies can fill the "cancer puzzle." Other forms of antibodies are suitable for other diseases, but not for cancer. The ability of antibodies to recognize a variety of cells and diseases is the basis of antibody-based immunotherapy.

　　Current research is adding a light detector to the puzzle. This allows you to see where the cancer cells are in the tissues of cancer patients. Different types of cancer cells can be characterized by attaching different colored detectable reagents to different antibodies. Antibody-drug conjugates are then produced to deliver the drugs directly to cancer patients without damaging healthy cells. Immune checkpoint inhibitors: essentially antibodies against specific proteins on tumor cells or T cells (the main immune cells involved in cancer death). These proteins usually send inhibitory signals from cancer cells to T cells, thereby inactivating T cells. By blocking this signal, immune checkpoint inhibitors can activate T cells and kill tumor cells.

　　adoptive cell therapy: including the popular CAR-T cell therapy, which can enhance the natural ability of T cells to resist cancer. Like antibodies, T cells express different "puzzles" on their surface. These enable them to connect to imperfect disease puzzles and then kill the disease. CAR-T cells are T cells taken from patients. After modification, they form a cancer-specific problem, so that they can directly target cancer when they re-enter the patient's body.

　　The future of cancer treatment

　　Preliminary studies around the world have shown that immunotherapy for cancer is less toxic than traditional therapies (such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy). It also produces fewer and fewer serious side effects. This means that immunotherapy can improve the quality of life of patients.

　　Immunotherapy is effective, safe and relatively easy to manufacture. However, they are not independent miracle drugs that can stop cancer. The next stage of cancer treatment strategy will announce a variety of methods including the best treatment plan, and may provide treatment methods.