Caring for Patients Undergoing Immunotherapy
By Tara Johnson, RDH, PhD
The immune system protects the body against illness and infection caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites. The immune response involves myriad reactions and processes to repair and remove damaged cells or infection. Immunotherapy—also known as host modulation, biological therapy, or biotherapy—is the prevention or treatment of disease with substances that stimulate the immune response. Collectively, immunotherapy drugs restore, stimulate, or enhance immune system function. Immunotherapy is commonly used to treat various cancers, as well as other conditions, such as autoimmune diseases. Conventional therapies for these diseases rely primarily on cytotoxic and broad-spectrum immunosuppressive agents, such as corticosteroids, to inhibit immune system activity. Serious side effects associated with extensive steroid therapies, however, have stimulated the development of more targeted and less toxic therapies.1
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