The founder and lead surgeon of the North Texas Cancer Center at Wise talks about immunotherapy.

Decatur, TX – As researchers race toward making immunotherapy a viable treatment for cancer, very positive advances have been made in some areas but not others. This form of treatment, meant to replace chemotherapy in the fight against cancer cells, has been shown to produce strong results in certain cases of non-small cell lung cancer. Effectiveness, however, is limited to rather specific cases.

“Even though effectiveness is limited in its scope, recent breakthroughs in immunotherapy are very encouraging,” says Dr. Gregory Echt, founder and lead surgeon at the North Texas Cancer Center at Wise. “As advances are made, it is becoming a very real possibility that we may someday soon be able to get the body to more effectively fight off cancer while limiting side effect risks in the process.”

Immunotherapy involves the use of medications that are designed to get the body’s own immune system to fight off cancer cells. Unlike chemotherapy, the immune system can discriminate between healthy and diseased cells. The end result is a reduction in the collateral damage patients may experience during treatment.

A recent breakthrough in immunotherapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer has been producing positive results in clinical trials. The drug, in fact, has been found to be a viable first-line treatment to use in place of chemotherapy. Researchers, however, have found the drug is most effective in lung cancer patients whose tumors express a certain protein marker. If the marker is not present, the drug’s potential benefits decline. The results have some clinicians urging that screening for this marker be conducted on patients to isolate those who might be better served by immunotherapy.

“Although still not an answer for the treatment of all forms of cancer, the lung cancer study shows that immunotherapy may serve an important role in helping some people effectively fight this disease,” says Dr. Echt. “By providing a way to treat disease while sparing the body of collateral harm, this form of treatment may very well be one of the keys to beating cancer.”

About North Texas Cancer Center at Wise
North Texas Cancer Center at Wise, a division of Choice Cancer Care, is now operating as the Cancer Center at Wise Regional and is one of the most renowned cancer treatment centers in Texas. The center unites some of the best cancer doctors and surgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists. Our expert team delivers superior cancer treatment in Texas, with the best results available.