Immunotherapy

The immune system is made up of cells and organs that protect the body from threats such as infections, toxins and abnormal cell growth. The immune system recognises when a foreign organism, such as a germ, enters the body and attacks it to stop it from harming the body.

Immunotherapy, or biologic therapy, is a type of treatment that uses your own immune system to fight cancer.

While not as commonly used as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy, immunotherapy in Australia is rapidly becoming a key treatment option for a wide range of cancers. It offers life-extending or lifesaving outcomes for many patients.

Immunotherapy treatments in Australia can be given in a clinic, a doctor’s office or at a hospital. How often the treatment is given will depend on the type of immunotherapy, the type of cancer, how advanced the cancer is, how the cancer responds to treatment or the side effects you experience. Different forms of immunotherapy may be given in different ways, including:

• Orally
• Directly into a vein through an intravenous injection or infusion (IV)
• By applying a cream
• Directly into the bladder
• Injected into a tumour

Since its introduction in 1891, immunotherapy has evolved significantly, including multiple different types of therapies which help the body’s immune system to fight cancer, such as cancer vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, checkpoint inhibitors and Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. Once limited in availability, immunotherapy Australia now includes access to many approved therapies under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for a broader range of cancers.

In Australia, immunotherapy is currently TGA approved for use for the following cancer types:

Following several landmark clinical trials both in Australia and globally, immunotherapy has expanded to treat a much broader range of cancer types. Immunotherapy is most commonly used to treat advanced cancers that have spread beyond the area where the cancer first developed, known as secondary or metastatic cancers, and recurrent cancer (when cancer returns after treatment).

As we better understand how cancers grow and multiply, new discoveries are being made and more immunotherapy treatments are becoming available every day.

Immunotherapy can work more effectively when used in combination with other anti-cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and many commonly used treatment plans combine these cancer therapies.

Immunotherapy side effects can affect people in different ways and will depend on how healthy you are before treatment, your type of cancer, how advanced it is, the type of therapy you are getting, and the dose.

The most common side effects include:

• Skin reactions: Pain, swelling, redness, itchiness or rash at the needle site
• Flu-like symptoms: Fever, chills, weakness, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, muscle or joint aches, fatigue, headache, trouble breathing, and low or high blood pressure
• Other side effects: Swelling and weight gain from fluid retention, heart palpitations, sinus congestion, diarrhoea and risk of infection

Your care team will discuss any potential side effects with you throughout your journey.