Although chemotherapy remains a primary form of cancer treatment for many patients, it’s exciting to see the use of immune-based therapies continue to grow. By using the body’s immune system to fight cancer, this type of personalized treatment can be more effective and less toxic than chemotherapy, often avoiding side effects like fatigue, nausea, and low red blood cell counts.
We aim to ease the pain of patients whenever possible, and many older and higher risk patients benefit from a less intensive form of treatment. I believe the use of immune-based therapies has continued to grow because it’s effective in treating various cancers like melanoma, lung, breast, and bladder cancer – often resulting in long-term remission.
I’m eager to see how new immune-based therapies are implemented as we continue into 2019.
– Dr. Kavita Nirmal