This type of therapy uses the body's immune system to fight cancer or to reduce the side effects that some cancer treatments cause. The immune system may recognize the differences between healthy cells and cancers cells and eliminate those that become cancerous. Cancer may develop when the immune system breaks down or is overwhelmed. Biological therapies are designed to repair, stimulate, or enhance the immune system's natural anticancer functions. This response is unique because antibodies are programmed to recognize and defend against certain antigens.
Antibodies respond to antigens by latching to, or binding with antigens.
They fit together the way a key fits into a lock. Biological therapies to treat cancer target some of these antibodies, boosting, directing, or restoring the body's own cancer-fighting mechanisms. They alter the interaction between the body's natural immune defenses and cancer, helping the body's ability to fight the disease. Antibodies and cytokines are BRMs that occur naturally in the body. Scientists can make BRMs in the laboratory that imitate or influence these antibodies and cytokines.