MELAKA – Previously immunotherapy had been effective in the treatment of skin cancer or melanoma, but today it is widely used to treat various types of cancers including lung and breast.
According to Pantai Hospital Ayer Keroh oncologist Dr Abel Zachariah, immunotherapy is a new alternative treatment for cancer patients, apart from the conventional chemotherapy, which is often used to control cancer cells from spreading.
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He said if immunotherapy is combined with chemotherapy to treat patients with lung cancer for example, it could be more effective in controlling cancer cells, thereby increasing the patient’s life expectancy.
“Both of these treatments respond to cancer cells in different ways. Immunotherapy is a special drug to boost or modify a patient’s immune system to respond to a cancer attack while chemotherapy attacks any multiple cell that divide in the body rapidly.