While immunotherapy is a relatively new cancer treatment that uses the immune system to fight the cancer, this treatment works better on certain forms of cancer. Using immunotherapy as a cancer treatment will depend on the type of cancer you have, as well as if you have any pre-existing medical conditions. In this video, oncologist Dr. Stephen Lemon discusses what types of cancers immunotherapy may treat, including some of the more common types of immunotherapy drugs, such as Yervoy, Opdivo, Keytruda, and Tecentriq. If immunotherapy is currently not approved for your type of cancer, you may still be able to get it in a clinical trial if your first treatments work. Ask your doctor if any new clinical trials are testing out new immunotherapy treatments for your cancer type.

Stephen Lemon MD is a medical oncologist at the Overlake Hospital Cancer Treatment Center in Bellevue, WA.

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Will Immunotherapy Cancer Treatment Work for Me? (video transcript)
A patient (or you) is a good candidate for immunotherapy if he or she has been diagnosed with one of these cancers:

Non Small Cell Lung Cancer
Malignant Melanoma
Kidney Cancer
Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer
Bladder Cancer
Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

The cancers need to have spread, except for melanoma. Immunotherapy is approved for early stage treatment in melanoma, but not in the other cancers at this time

Here are four commonly used immunotherapy drugs:

(Yervoy)
(Opdivo)
(Keytruda)
(Tecentriq)

Yervoy works to stimulate the immune system to find the cancer. It was the first immune checkpoint inhibitor to be approved based upon its ability to prolong survival in patients with metastatic melanoma

All four of these immunotherapy drugs work to stimulate the immune system by blocking various proteins. When the proteins are blocked, the immune system is unleashed to kill the cancer.

Now let’s talk about which drugs are used to treat particular cancers
In Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, Keytruda can be used either as the initial treatment, or after if traditional chemotherapy doesn’t work.

Opdivo and Tecentriq can be used after traditional chemotherapy doesn’t work.

In malignant melanoma, Yervoy can be used by itself or in combination with Opdivo for treatment of patients with unresectable melanoma. Unresectable means the cancer cannot be removed by surgery. Yervoy can also be used after surgery for high-risk melanoma patients.

Opdivo and Keytruda can be used individually in the initial treatment of advanced or metastatic melanoma.

For the treatment of kidney cancer, Opdivo can be used if the cancer gets worse after treatment with a blood vessel interfering drug, also known as anti-angiogenic treatment.

In Head and Neck squamous cell cancer, both Opdivo and Keytruda can be used after the failure of traditional chemotherapy for advanced or metastatic disease.

In bladder cancer, both Opdivo and Tecentriq can also be used after the failure of traditional chemotherapy. Tecentriq may also be used for patients who have had a cancer recurrence after traditional chemotherapy and surgery.

In classical Hodgkin Lymphoma, Opdivo can be used after all other standard therapy is exhausted.

Patients may have opportunities to participate in clinical trials of immunotherapy treatment, so if you have been diagnosed with cancer always check with your doctor to see if you would be eligible to participate in a research study.

Not everyone is a good candidate for immunotherapy. For some patients immunotherapy is too risky because they may have a greater chance of life threatening side effects.

For example, patients who are in very poor health, or who suffer from active autoimmune disease should not receive treatment.

Immunotherapy cancer treatment is a scientific breakthrough that gives all of us hope that one day we won’t see cancer anymore!

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