What is immunotherapy and how does it work?

The difference between standard cancer treatments and emerging immunotherapies

If you've ever wondered what the difference was between immunotherapy and chemotherapy, this short video takes you through the steps. Briefly, chemotherapy attacks cancer in tumor cells directly, while immunotherapy encourages your immune system to fight it. There's more to it than that, but this delightful two-and-a-half-minute video provides a good primer.

Immunotherapy focuses on boosting the immune system to fight cancer

The immune system detects and destroys abnormal cells, curbing the growth of many cancers. Immunotherapy works to boost the body’s immune system to target and kill cancer cells. There are many ways to accomplish this, including adaptive cell therapy, checkpoint inhibitors, vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies.

Frequently asked questions on immunotherapy

The Cancer Research Institute takes a close look at immunotherapy and its potential for treating cancer. Immunotherapy teaches the patient's own immune system to recognize and fight cancer cells. It's especially promising as an alternative for cancers that resist chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Have all your questions about the process and its promise here.

A new type of immunotherapy focuses on healthy cells hijacked by tumors

Purdue University scientists are at work on a new cancer treatment that attacks immune system cells that feed and protect cancer cells rather than attacking them. The immunotherapy process promises to become a universal treatment for solid tumors. Thus far, the treatment has been tested and shown to work on human tumor cells in the laboratory and animal models.

How is immunotherapy used to fight cancer?

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute provides a delightful Science Illustrated animation explaining PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy and how it fights cancer. Briefly, the treatment helps T-cells recognize cancerous cells that would ordinarily be "disguised" by proteins and attack. The fight is made more fair and effective by immunotherapy and similar cancer treatments.

Teaching immune cells to fight cancer

CAR T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy, which involves strengthening the immune system to attack cancer cells. Patient T cells, which manage immune responses and are responsible for killing pathogen-infected cells, are collected and re-engineered to produce surface-level proteins called chimeric antigen receptors. These CARs, now able to bind to specific proteins on cancer cell surfaces, are multiplied into the millions and infused back into the patient.

What is cancer bioengineering?

While new treatments for cancer are under continuous development, researchers are increasingly using engineering principles to find wholly new strategies to combat the disease. Directions include nanoparticle drug delivery, advanced imaging tools, developing new materials to interact with cells, tissue engineering, robotic surgeries, and more. Such interdisciplinary efforts are expected to unlock new tools and therapies beyond traditional drug formulation.

What is CAR T-cell therapy?

A four-minute video about CAR T-cell therapy to help answer patients' questions: What is CAR T-cell therapy? How does CAR T-cell therapy work?

The immune system is in a constant fight against mutations

At the heart of cancerous cells is the development of mutations—an ongoing and continuous process that happens frequently. So why don’t we get cancer immediately? The body’s immune system has developed intricate methods to detect and destroy cancer cells, catching the vast majority before they get the chance to evolve into tumors.

How Nobel Prize-winning research unraveled why the immune system doesn't always attack itself

The 2025 Nobel Prize was awarded to scientists who discovered how immune system soldiers are typically stopped from attacking healthy tissue. The work furthered autoimmune understanding and cancer therapies.

How does cancer actually kill someone?

While the emotional and physical tolls of cancer are often clear, the innerworkings of how cancer kills can be confusing — and terrifying to discuss. Here, oncologists explain how cancer can progress.

Turning nuclear waste into cancer medications

This video explores Terrapower, a company transforming nuclear waste into lifesaving cancer treatments. This is accomplished through the production and use of Actinium 225, a rare isotope derived from thorium, which is used in targeted alpha therapy to treat cancer.

How to think yourself into health

Can the right thoughts lead to a stronger immune system? Neuroimmunologists like Hai Qi study how drugs targeting the brain, as well as thought exercises, can prompt stronger immune responses to infection. This six-minute video investigates the radical claims.

Breaking down the different types of vaccine technologies

There are several different types of vaccines. Each type is designed to teach your immune system how to fight off germs—and the serious diseases they cause. This short overview breaks down the differences between the types.

What is the immune system? A quick 101

Your body’s immune system is designed to protect you from infection. Find out more about how the immune system works with this quick overview and set of diagrams.

How Gleevec transformed leukemia treatment and cancer research

An outline of the discovery of imatinib (Gleevec), a ground-breaking drug that transformed the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and sparked the beginning of precision medicine.

How do stem cells actually work?

Stem cells are unspecialized cells that can develop into various cell types while also making exact replicas of themselves. This amazing ability has made stem cells a candidate to treat a wide variety of diseases and conditions—though the vast majority of potential therapies remain in the research stage.

Learn how monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the body's antibodies, can fight diseases like Ebola.

Inhalers, antihistamines, immunotherapy, and more have made allergies a multimillion-dollar market

Market research suggests that the allergies market will continue to grow in the years ahead as the number of allergy diagnoses increases, identifying new patients. Areas of growth include the increasing interest in immunotherapies designed to retrain the immune system through regular exposure to potential allergens via injections and under-the-tongue medical formulations, among other approaches.

See this searchable resource about herbal therapies, including evidence and drug interactions

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has created this searchable resource of herbal supplements to inform the public about the purported uses of herbal therapies, the existing evidence about them, their mechanism of action, and any concerns about potential herbal supplement and drug interactions.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

How mRNA vaccines work

mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were developed faster than any vaccine ever made. Even more enticing, the underlying technology may unlock preventive treatments for a wide-range of diseases.

Tattoos, explained

Tattoos last because immune cells trap ink beneath the skin—but there's more to the story. This overview looks at how ancient cultures used tattoos for status, spirituality and punishment; how technology like the electric tattoo machine transformed the art form, and where innovations like smart tattoos could take it next.

See this 201-level explanation about mitochondria and mitochondrial replacement therapy

This 2022 academic presentation from Stanford University's Dr. Gregory Enns offers a detailed overview about mitochondrial therapy approaches. Enns, a pediatric geneticist, explains how well-functioning mitochondria support the human body.

An interactive explanation of blood transfusion

The antigens and Rh factors of blood cells (which determines your blood type) must be compatible with your immune system—which is why blood transfusions between patients must have matching types. In a mismatch, the immune system will attack and destroy donor blood cells, triggering a potentially fatal reaction.

How fighting wildfires works

Firefighters use sophisticated strategies to control wildfires that sometimes cover thousands of acres. This video breaks down how teams set up fire lines to isolate the fires by cutting down brush and trees around the existing fire, among other...

Autoimmune diseases affect between 5% and 10% of people worldwide, but their causes remain unknown

Autoantibodies—which attack the body—may be detectable in the body years before a patient develops symptoms, but some people may have detectable levels yet never go on to develop an autoimmune disease. This video discusses this and other unsolved mysteries with autoimmune disease.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Firework or sparkler burns, even if they cover a relatively small area of skin, can significantly affect our range of motion.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.