Lymphoma Cancer Treatments – Biotherapy / Immunotherapy
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Biotherapy/Immunotherapy for Lymphoma
At Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), we believe lymphoma treatment is enhanced by understanding and working with the body's own power of protection—the immune system.
Lymphoma may develop when the body’s immune system is weak or is not functioning adequately. Immunotherapy (also called biological therapy, biotherapy, or biological response modifier therapy) repairs, stimulates, or enhances the body’s immune system responses.
In treating lymphoma, immunotherapy/biotherapy enlists the body’s immune system, either directly or indirectly, to fight the disease, or to lessen the side effects of other conventional lymphoma treatments. Some examples of immunotherapy treatments include interferons, colony stimulating factors, and monoclonal antibodies.
Biotherapy/Immunotherapy may be used to:
- Inhibit, manage, or prevent processes that permit the growth of cancer cells
- Help make lymphoma cells more identifiable by the body’s immune system, and therefore more susceptible to destruction
- Increase the strength of your immune system cells, such as T-cells, NK-cells, and macrophages
- Alter the cancer cells' growth patterns to promote behavior similar to that of healthy cells
- Impede or revert the process that transforms a normal or pre-cancerous cell into a cancerous cell
- Enhance the body’s ability to repair or replace normal cells damaged or destroyed by other forms of lymphoma cancer treatment (e.g., chemotherapy, radiation therapy)
- Prevent cancerous cells from spreading to other parts of the body
Your CTCA care team may use biotherapy/immunotherapy alone, or in conjunction with other treatment options, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy, to fight lymphoma.
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