How does immunotherapy affect the heart?
Cancer patients receiving immunotherapy drugs have a higher risk of heart problems. A study of over a thousand cancer patients treated with immunotherapy drugs has found these patients are at greater risk of heart problems, including death from heart attack or stroke.
What does immunotherapy consist of?
Immunotherapy (biological therapy), an evolving and promising cancer treatment, works by stimulating the immune system. Immunotherapy drugs include CAR T-cell therapy and checkpoint inhibitors. Treatments can fuel the body’s production of cancer-fighting cells or help healthy cells identify and attack cancer cells.
What type of therapy does cancer immunotherapy represent?
Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that boosts the body’s natural defenses to fight cancer. It uses substances made by the body or in a laboratory to improve how your immune system works to find and destroy cancer cells.
Can you survive cancer with immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy drugs work better in some cancers than others and while they can be a miracle for some, they fail to work for all patients. Overall response rates are about 15 to 20%.
Can yervoy cause heart problems?
According to the research, checkpoint inhibitors can cause the immune system to attack the heart. The effects are rare, however: As of April, only 18 cases of serious heart inflammation had been reported among 20,594 patients receiving Opdivo, Yervoy, or both.
How long can you live on immunotherapy?
How often and how long you have the treatment depends on the type of cancer and how advanced it is, the type of checkpoint inhibitor, how the cancer responds to the treatment and what side effects you experience. Many people stay on immunotherapy for up to two years.
How will I feel after immunotherapy?
Fatigue (feeling tired), fever, chills, weakness, nausea (feeling sick to your stomach), vomiting (throwing up), dizziness, body aches, and high or low blood pressure are all possible side effects of immunotherapy. They are especially common in non-specific immunotherapy and oncolytic virus therapy.