What Are The Side Effects Of Immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy is a form of treatment that utilizes particular components and characteristics of a patient's immune system to treat diseases, including cancer. The human immune system is a group of specialized cells, organs, and substances that protect the body from harmful or foreign organisms and substances. In the last several decades, researchers have found the immune system can be manipulated in certain ways for the purpose of treating disease. There are several mechanisms used to accomplish this. Medications can stimulate the individual's immune system to work harder and smarter to find and attack cancerous cells more effectively. Some immunotherapy medications actually train the patient's immune system to detect and attack specific cancer cells. Other immunotherapy medications augment the immune system with man-made versions of immune substances. While immunotherapy has shown to be useful and effective for the treatment of some cancers, it does come with its own set of side effects that should be considered.
Nausea And Vomiting
A common side effect of immunotherapy is nausea and vomiting. Nausea is a sensation best described as feeling sick to the stomach, and it may or may not result in actual vomiting. Nausea and vomiting occur when certain nerves in the stomach, esophagus, or intestines become irritated and trigger a related part of the brain. When nausea and vomiting occur minutes to several hours following treatment and resolve within twenty-four hours, it is called acute nausea and vomiting. When this side effect occurs over twenty-four hours following treatment and lasts for six to seven days, it is called delayed nausea and vomiting. When a patient undergoes the first few treatments of immunotherapy and expects to be sick, they can experience treatment anxiety. This anxiety usually occurs before treatment sessions and may result in anticipatory nausea and vomiting. In some cases, a patient may experience nausea and vomiting due to the waste products produced by the effects of the treatment on the cancer cells themselves. Medications are available to help alleviate nausea and vomiting a patient may experience as a result of immunotherapy.
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Shortness Of Breath
Shortness of breath can occur in some patients who undergo immunotherapy. Shortness of breath or dyspnea can best be described as a sensation where the affected individual feels like they cannot inhale enough air. Immunotherapy not only increases the immune system reactions to cancerous cells, but it also increases its reaction to various other healthy tissues throughout the patient's body. When the immune system is stimulated, and its brakes are removed, it can activate against healthy tissues in many different organs, including the lungs. This side effect occurs the most in patients receiving immunotherapy to treat lung cancer. Such immune activation that affects the lung tissues manifests most often as pneumonitis or inflammation in the lungs. Inflammation causes an influx of numerous immune system components and substances to the site that can obstruct or narrow the airways and clog the alveoli or little air sacs in the lungs. This narrowing or obstruction results in episodes of coughing, wheezing, and frequent shortness of breath.
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