limmunoterapia

Limmunoterapia, a term often used interchangeably with immunoterapia or inmunoterapia, refers to medical treatments that use the body's immune system to fight disease. The goal is to stimulate, direct, or supplement immune responses to recognize and destroy abnormal cells, pathogens, or dysregulated inflammatory processes. It is most established in oncology but is also applied in infectious diseases, autoimmune conditions, and allergies.

Therapies are broadly categorized as active, passive, or adoptive. Active immunotherapy seeks to elicit an immune response against a target, for example through vaccines or tumor vaccines that train the immune system to recognize cancer cells. Passive immunotherapy provides immune components directly, such as monoclonal antibodies or immune globulins that can target specific molecules or pathogens. Adoptive cell transfer involves modifying and transferring immune cells, including CAR-T cells or tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, to attack diseased tissue. Other notable approaches include immune checkpoint inhibitors that release brakes on immune cells (e.g., PD-1/PD-L1, CTLA-4) and cytokine therapies using proteins like interferons or interleukins to modulate immune activity. Allergen immunotherapy, by sensitizing the immune system to specific substances, is another clinically used form.

Mechanisms rely on enhancing immune recognition and response, reducing tumor immunosuppression, or providing ready-made immune effectors. Benefits have been demonstrated in several cancers, with durable responses in some patients, but not all diseases respond, and side effects can be significant, including immune-related adverse events. Costs and accessibility are also considerations. Ongoing research explores combination strategies, biomarkers to predict response, and new targets to broaden the applicability of limmunoterapia across diseases.