Immunotherapy in cancer diagnosis and treatment
Immunotherapy is a form of enhancing the ability to recognize and eliminate cancer cells. With treatment using the new principle of immunotherapy, signs of cancer have disappeared in many types of cancer.
This is the sharing of Prof. Dr. Doan Huu Nghi - Vice President of Hanoi Cancer Association, expert of MEDLATEC General Hospital at the Conference "Application of new techniques in diagnosis and treatment" recently held in Hanoi.
Statistics show that cancer is the leading cause of death, ahead of cardiovascular disease, stroke, acute respiratory infections, etc.
The most common cancers in women today are breast, cervical, and thyroid. In men, lung, stomach, liver, and esophageal cancers are also the most common.
The main causes of the disease today are diet, tobacco, infection, sexual activity, etc. Currently, the incidence of cancer tends to decrease in the US, Japan and Europe, but is increasing in developing countries.
Throughout medical history, cancer treatment has taken many forms, including surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, but these treatments can temporarily weaken the immune system. This can reduce the number of white blood cells produced in the bone marrow.
In addition to the benefits, cancer treatments can weaken the immune system and spread to the bone marrow. Bone marrow is valuable for making blood cells that help fight infections: leukemia or lymphoma, but it can also happen with other cancers. Cancer can prevent the bone marrow from making blood cells.
Faced with the rapid increase of cancer, scientists around the world have continuously researched new methods to bring miraculous achievements to mankind.
The proof is that in 2018, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to scientists James Allison (USA) and Tasuku Honjo (Japan) for their important discoveries in Cancer Immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is a form of enhancing the ability to recognize and eliminate cancer cells.
“This is a new principle for immunotherapy, which is like removing the brakes that inhibit T cells (strong immune cells), to release the immune system to attack cancer cells. With treatment using the new principle of immunotherapy, signs of cancer have disappeared in many types of cancer.”, Professor Doan Huu Nghi emphasized.
To increase the effectiveness of treatment from 40% to 90%, Professor Doan Huu Nghi recommends: It is necessary to combine early diagnosis, multi-modal treatment and research. At the same time, he emphasized that immunity is widely applied in diagnosing, monitoring and curing cancer.
With its widespread application in diagnosing, monitoring and curing cancer, immunotherapy has quickly proven its new advantages in cancer treatment. However, to treat patients safely and effectively, continuous research remains a challenge for scientists worldwide.