immunotherapy

[im-yuh-noh-ther-uh-pee, ih-myoo-]

noun

plural

immunotherapies 

1. treatment designed to produce immunity to a disease or enhance the resistance of the immune system to an active disease process, as cancer.

immunotherapy

/ ˌɪmjʊnəʊˈθɛrəpɪ, ˌɪmjʊnəʊˌθɛrəˈpjuːtɪk /

noun

1. med the treatment of disease by stimulating the body's production of antibodies

Other Word Forms

• immunotherapeutic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of immunotherapy¹

First recorded in 1905–10; immuno- + therapy

Example Sentences

She joined a clinical trial for CAR-T-cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy for certain blood cancers, in which she said scientists "engineered my sister's T-cells, directing them to attack my cancer cells".

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The only slight improvement over two decades of effort shows "that therapies like chemotherapy and immunotherapy aren't working very well", he added.

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Researchers at UC Santa Barbara are exploring a new therapeutic direction that aims to reach and disrupt the uncontrolled expansion of these cysts by using carefully designed monoclonal antibodies -- lab-made proteins commonly used in immunotherapy.

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The UK has licensed teplizumab - an immunotherapy that can stop the immune system attacking beta cells and may be able to give them time to mature - although it is not available on the NHS.

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The findings could help doctors identify patients more likely to respond to immunotherapy, including experimental bowel cancer vaccines that train the immune system to target and destroy cancer cells.

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