What's the difference between immunotherapy and chemotherapy?

Whether you're newly diagnosed or already in the fight, it's important to understand the nuances of cancer treatment. Here, Jennifer Caudle, DO, explains the differences between two major therapies and how they're being combined to advance treatment.

Transcript

00:00

LISA: Hi Dr. Caudle. My name is Lisa I'm battling non-small cell lung cancer.

00:07

I've been hearing a lot about the immunotherapy. What exactly is immunotherapy? How is it different from chemo?

00:14

Hi, Lisa. It's great chatting with you. this is a really great question. And it's also not an uncommon one.

00:24

Immunotherapy works with the body's immune system to fight cancer. The immune system normally fights infections

00:31

and other diseases and can even find and kill many cancer cells. But cancer cells are tricky and have ways

00:38

to avoid the immune system. Immunotherapy helps the immune system to be better prepared to fight cancer.

00:50

Chemotherapies, in contrast, are drugs that kill cancer cells. They stop and slow the growth of cancer cells in order

00:57

to treat cancer and help alleviate cancer symptoms. Sometimes chemotherapy is the only treatment

01:04

a patient receives. But chemotherapy is often given in conjunction with other treatments, though it depends on the type of cancer

01:10

you have.

01:16

When administered together, research suggests immunotherapy and chemotherapy may be a promising combination.

01:23

In 2017, the FDA approved a combination of an immunotherapy drug and chemotherapy

01:30

as a treatment for those newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer. These promising results in the fight against non-small cell

01:37

lung cancer using immunotherapy and chemotherapy have spurred further trials of the combination to test its efficacy against different cancers.