Immunotherapy Flashcards
radiation therapy
for cancer, high doses of radiation are applied to the tumor
how does radiation therapy work
radiation at high doses can kill cells or slow their growth by damaging their DNA
chemotherapy
chemotherapy drugs kill cells when they are dividing by mitosis, killing more cells in fast growing tissues
what is tthe modern treatments for cancer
targeted therapies
targeted therapies
use targeted therapy drugs, they interfere with a specific feature in cancer cells and largely leave healthy cells alone
two main types of targeted therapies
small molecule targeted therapy, immunotherapy
small molecule targeted therapy
medicines that block precesses in the body that help cancer cells to grow survive or spread
four types of immunotherapy
monoclonal antibodies and t-cell transfer therapies, cytokine therapy and dendritic cell therapy
t-cell transfer therapy example
CAR-T therapy: cytotoxic t cells are removed from the patients blood and geneticallyy modified so they have t-cell receptors specific to a protein expressed on the membranes of teh cancer cells
immunotherapy
a form of medical treatment that modulates the functioning of the immune system to treat disease
two broad categories of immunotheraoy
activation immunottheraoy and suppressive immunotherapy
activation immunotherapy
aim to induce or amplify an immune response
supression immunotherapy
aim to prevent or reduce an immune response
dendritic cell therapy
priming dendritic cekks with tumour-associated antigens (TAA’s), can be achieved through vaccination or removing dendritic cells, priming them with TAAs, then inserting them back into the patient
cytokine therapy
use of signallying molecules to modulate the effect of the immune system
what are monoclonal antibodies
antibodies of one type, produced by hybridoma and that bind to a specific antigen
how are monoclonal antibodies produced
scientists identify and isolate an antigen that is present on a desired cell, scientists will vaccinate an animal, usually mice with the antigen, b-lymphocytes are extracted from the spleen of the mice, the extracted b lymphocytes are fused with a myeloma cell to create a hydridoma, hybridomas are screened so that tthe cells with the appropriate antibodies are selectedm the hybridomas that produce the specific antibody are cloned, the antibodies are collected and purified before administered
myelomaa
cancerous plasma cell
how are monoclonal antibodies used to treat cancer
used as activation immunotherapy, the types of monoclonal antibodes used are naked or conjugated
antibody dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity
monoclonal antibodies bind to cancer cells and interact with the cells of the immune system e.g. NK cells, leading it to recognise the antibody coated cancer kill and forgein and kill it
complement activation
monoclonal antibodies bind to cancer cells and interact with complmenet proteins. complement proteins can then go on to destroy the cancerous cell by forming a membrane attack complex (MAC)
blocking immune checkpoints
when monoclonal antibodies block immune checkpoints, enabling the immune system to destroy the cncer cell more easily
function of conjugated monoclonal antibodies
dont alter the immune system system function in any way, they can have other molecules attached to them
how are monoclonal antibodies used to treat autoimmune diseases
with suppression immunotherapy - cytokine inhibition and b and t cell depletion and inhibition
cytokine inhibition
monoclonal antibodies binding and inhibiting cytokines to reduce immune response
b and t cell depletion and inhibition
antibodies binding to autoreactive b and t cells to inhibit these cells or stimulate other immune cells to destroy them
