Immunotherapy is a relatively recent addition to the options for treating various cancers. One of these compounds, nivolumab, works by blocking a protein that keeps immune cells from destroying cancer cells. Such medicines are known as checkpoint inhibitors. Nivolumab belongs to the ominous-sounding category, programmed death-1 inhibitors.
Does Nivolumab Improve Survival?
Oncologists report that patients with hard-to-treat lung cancer got significant benefit from nivolumab treatment (World Conference on Lung Cancer, Barcelona, Sep. 10, 2019). The study included 854 people. These individuals has non-small-cell lung cancer that had failed to respond to first-line platinum chemotherapy.
After five years, 13.4 percent of those who received the drug were still alive, compared to 2.6 percent of those treated with the standard chemotherapy drug docetaxel. The researchers point out that this makes the nivolumab survival rate five times better than chemo for this type of cancer.
Side Effects of Immunotherapy:
Because nivolumab works by affecting the immune system, people on this medication may experience infections, rash and itching, significant fatigue, diarrhea or other more serious side effects. If the immune system attacks the body, people taking this drug may suffer immune-mediated pneumonitis, colitis or hepatitis. People sometimes develop disorders of the thyroid or adrenal glands that are also difficult to treat. Despite this the prospect of improving survival chances five-fold may outweigh the risk of such reactions.