What kind of therapy specifically utilizes the body's own defenses against cancer?

Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that harnesses the body's own immune system to fight cancer cells. This approach aims to enhance or restore the immune response against tumors, promoting the natural ability of the body to identify and destroy cancer. This can be accomplished through various methods such as checkpoint inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, cancer vaccines, or adoptive cell transfer.

In contrast, surgery focuses on physically removing tumors or cancerous tissue, while radiation therapy employs targeted radiation to kill cancer cells or shrink tumors. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill rapidly dividing cells, which includes both cancer and some healthy cells. Although these treatments play vital roles in cancer management, they do not specifically engage the immune system as immunotherapy does. By utilizing the body’s own defenses, immunotherapy offers a distinct therapeutic strategy to combat cancer, especially for certain types of tumors that might be less responsive to traditional treatments.