A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY AND VACCINES

Anubov Mazumder*, Sangeetha S. and Shobha Rani H.

ABSTRACT

Cancer is identified by abnormal cells where cancer cells can easily infiltrate adjacent tissue and travel to other parts of the body through lymphatic and circulatory systems. Its primary features are proliferation and metastasis. Cancer is deadly if it is not controlled in the early stage. There are limited cancer treatment options available like radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery but a new innovative cancer treatment has come which increases immunity and it is termed as the fourth form of treatment. The main drivers behind this immunotherapy treatment success are checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, oncolytic virus therapy, and cancer vaccines. Cancer vaccines function by boosting the immune system's capacity to combat cancer. It has both therapeutic and preventive vaccines. Immunotherapy has proven to be effective, but only a small percentage of patients show signs of improvement after starting treatment. Biomarkers are useful in identifying patients who may respond to medication which gives better efficacy with immunotherapy. This review gives an idea of immunotherapy for cancer patients, types of immunotherapy drugs, advantages and disadvantages, new trends, and future predictions, and also gives a broad idea of side effects, mechanism of action, adjunct therapy, and Biomarkers.

Keywords: Oncolytic viruses, Adoptive cell therapy, Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, T-Cell receptors, CRS, ICANS, etc.