Contents

• Introduction 2
• Immunotherapy 2
• Active Immunotherapy 5
• Passive Immunotherapy 5
• Immunotherapy in Asthma 6
• Immunotherapy in Cancer 8
• Conclusion 10
• References 11

Description

The human body is complete with all the organs that are required for different functions of the body including defense. The body has a defense mechanism to protect organs against the attack of viruses, allergens, bacteria, etc that cause disease in the body. The human body has intelligence to naturally protect its organs from being attacked by external microorganisms. This defense mechanism is called the immune system. Immunology deals with immune systems of human beings. While some of the treatments use chemical drugs or medicines to fight viruses, bacteria etc. that cause disease, some other treatments use the human immune system to fight the invading microorganisms. Such methods used to treat diseases that use human immune system is called immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is also called biological therapy. Biological therapy or immunotherapy is relatively new invention in the medical treatment. Immunotherapy is used in treating asthma. Immunotherapy is also widely used to treat cancer when traditional treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy do not work. The paper discusses immunotherapy in general and then discusses the two areas where immunotherapy is used such as cancer and asthma.