Immunotherapy

Earlier this month, the LA Times ran an article about immunotherapy --  the group of treatments that seek to use the body's immune system against its cancer.

The article cites a whole bunch of immunotherapy treatments for cancers such as melanoma, sarcoma, and ovarian cancer. The article calls immunotherapy "one of medicine's most promising — and most problematic — approaches to cancer treatment." Indeed it is: when it works, it works wonders. But trying to get it to work is not easy: cancer has a way of evading attempts to kill it off -- especially attempts by its own host.

The article doesn't address  NHL specifically, but immunotherapy of all different types is in the pipeline for lymphoma. Vaccines -- which have had mixed success for NHL -- fit this category, and most use T cells, as the LA Times article discusses.

Speaking of T cells, also about a month ago, a researcher at Cambridge University filmed a T cell attacking a cancer cell. Very cool stuff:



Obviously, immunotherapy is something we'll be keeping an eye on.