Biological Therapy for Cancer

Overview

Mayo Clinic is a leader in translating knowledge gained from cancer research into effective care for cancer patients and their families. Researchers at Mayo Clinic are investigating the function of biological therapy for cancer and developing ways to use it for treating many types of cancer.

Mayo Clinic's oncology practice has continuously ranked among the top centers for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report. In addition, the National Cancer Institute has designated the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center as a comprehensive cancer center due to its vast resources devoted to cancer research.

Biological therapies are innovative anti-cancer treatments that help fight cancer or control the side effects of cancer treatment. They can be given with conventional cancer treatments (adjuvant therapy). Biological therapy for cancer includes immunotherapy, targeted therapy and anti-angiogenesis treatment.

• Immunotherapy helps repair, stimulate or enhance the body's natural ability to fight cancer, thereby helping the body kill cancer cells. Cancer vaccines, interferon and interleukin 2 treatments are examples of immunotherapies. Interferon and interleukin are more commonly used for treating patients with melanoma and have been used extensively in treating kidney cancers.
• Targeted therapy uses non-chemotherapy drugs to target specific cancer cells. Unlike chemotherapy, targeted therapy spares normal cells, and may reduce the side effects of other therapies. Many forms of targeted therapy are currently in use at Mayo Clinic, including such drugs as trastuzumab (Herceptin), imatinib (Gleevec) and bevacizumab (Avastin). Many anti-cancer targeted therapies are in clinical trials at Mayo Clinic. These treatments are experimental and potentially could be used in the future, if proven successful.
• Anti-angiogenesis is a targeted therapy that does not target cancer cells. Instead, it helps prevent the formation of new blood vessels in a growing tumor. Tumors need to develop blood vessels (angiogenesis) for growth. Anti-angiogenesis treatment helps stop new blood vessels from forming. Because anti-angiogenesis drugs target a growing tumor's blood vessels, they have been found useful only for treating advanced-stage cancers. Examples of anti-angiogenic drugs include sunitinib (Sutent) and sorafenib (Nexavar), used for kidney tumors, which are known to form many blood vessels.

Conditions Treated with Biological Therapy for Cancer

Oncologists consider biological targeted therapy when treating certain types of cancers such as kidney cancer, melanoma, breast cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer. Mayo Clinic researchers are studying the use of biological therapies to treat other cancers such as bladder cancer, stomach cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer.

Advantages

Biological therapy is less invasive and less toxic because it uses the body's immune system to fight cancer cells, unlike conventional treatments that directly attack those cells. However, it may not be the most appropriate treatment for everyone. Mayo Clinic physicians discuss the risks and benefits of biological therapies with patients and determine the most appropriate treatment plan. Biological therapy offers the following advantages to carefully selected cancer patients:

• Targets specific cancer cells to avoid damage to normal cells
• Makes cancer cells easy for the immune system to recognize
• May prevent or slow tumor growth
• Potentially prevents the spread of cancer cells
• Uses the immune system better to more effectively attack cancer cells

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