Immunotherapy is the treatment of immune cells and drugs. Immune cell therapy means that the patient’s cells are separated from the blood, and some cytokines are used in vitro to turn them into a kind of killer cells, and then they are infused back into the blood, which can recognize the tumor cells and kill them. There is another kind of immunotherapy, such as interferon and interleukin II, which are called immunotherapy. Immunotherapy refers to the treatment that stimulates the body’s own immune system to fight against cancer. The immune system is the body’s own defense system against disease. Immunotherapy is also called biologic response modifiers or biologic therapy. Some oncologists use immunotherapy as a fourth method of treating cancer, the other three being surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Immunotherapy is sometimes used alone, but in most cases as an adjunct to the primary treatment. Since the early 80s, with the rapid development of cell biology, molecular biology and bioengineering technology, immunotherapy for cancer has made a major breakthrough. Types of immunotherapy: Immunotherapy can be divided into three main categories: 1. non-specific immunotherapy and adjuvant immunotherapy. 2. 2.Specific immunotherapy with activity (tumor vaccine). 3. Passive immunotherapy (monoclonal antibodies). Sometimes, physicians use a combination of two or more immunotherapies. A certain immunotherapy may be particularly effective in killing certain cancer cells. Therefore, doctors take this into account when planning and applying immunotherapy. Immunotherapy for some cancers: The (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration has recognized immunotherapy as a treatment for some cancers. Approved immunotherapies include BCG, cytokine alpha interferon and interleukin type 2, as well as monoclonal antibodies against lymphoma and monoclonal antibodies against advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Many other immunotherapies have shown good results and are now in Phase I, Phase II and Phase III clinical trials. Malignant melanoma: Alpha interferon (IFN-α) and interleukin type 2 (IL-2) have been approved for the treatment of metastatic. malignant melanoma. Although the non-specific immune system stimulator BCG alone does not prolong life and delay cancer recurrence, it is sometimes used in combination with malignant melanoma vaccines and other immunotherapies. Recent clinical trials have shown that certain autologous intrinsic or allogeneic tumor cell vaccines and antigenic vaccines can prolong the lives of some patients. Renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer): Interleukin type 2 (IL-2) and alpha interferon (IFN-α) are standard of care for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Recent studies have shown that the combination of IL-2, IFN-α and chemotherapy is also effective. Now, researchers are beginning to study DNA vaccines. They inject a gene (a piece of DNA) into a patient’s cancer cells that causes the cancer cells to produce cytokines. The cytokines make the immune system better at recognizing the cancer cells, while activating immune system cells to fight the cancer cells. These immune system cells in tumors are called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Lymphoma, myeloma and leukemia: Alpha-type interferon is often used to treat granulocytic leukemia (HCL), chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), follicular lymphoma, multiple myeloma and T-cell lymphoma affecting the skin. Breast Cancer: The monoclonal antibody trastuzumab is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of intermediate to advanced breast cancer. Currently, bioimmunotherapy for breast cancer is used primarily as an adjunct to radiation therapy and mastectomy, and sometimes in combination with hormonal therapy or chemotherapy. Prostate cancer: Most of the immunotherapy for prostate cancer studied today focuses on vaccines. Researchers remove immune system cells called dendritic cells from a patient’s blood and culture them with antigens taken from the patient’s prostate cancer cells. The dendritic cells are then better able to recognize and help attack the cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies and cytokines are also being used in clinical trials. Colorectal cancer: Levamisole (a non-specific immune system stimulant) is often used with the chemotherapy drug 5-FU as adjuvant therapy. Certain carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) vaccines have improved the immune response in many colorectal cancer patients. Cervical cancer: Immunotherapy is an adjuvant therapy in the treatment of cervical cancer. Researchers are conducting clinical trials of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines for cervical cancer. What they found: The vaccine produces an immune response that can kill cancer cells or inhibit their growth. Ovarian cancer: Doctors inject interleukin type 2 (IL-2) directly into the abdominal cavity of patients with ovarian cancer to improve remission after surgical treatment. Cancer vaccines and monoclonal antibodies are new immunotherapies for ovarian cancer. Latest Immunotherapy Since the 1980s, scientists led by the United States and Japan have made breakthroughs in research on maitake (also known as ashwagandha), which has brought a new treatment to cancer patients with more desirable results. Maitake contains glucans with β-(1-6) bound to the main chain β-(1-3) bound to the side chain and active glucans with β-(1-3) bound to the main chain β-(1-6) bound to the side chain, which have been shown to significantly inhibit tumor growth by activating immune function. fraction (a combination of active dextran and protein) can be taken orally to obtain the desired effect. D-fraction is different from other mushrooms such as Shiitake, Yunzhi, Ganoderma, and other mushrooms in terms of chemical structure, composition, and molecular weight, and its biological activity is incomparable to these substances. Animal and clinical experiments have shown that D-fraction plays an anti-cancer role by activating immune cells such as phagocytes, natural killer cells and injurious T cells, and inducing the secretion of cytokines such as leukocytes, interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α. 2.Induce apoptosis of cancer cells. 3.Combined with traditional chemotherapeutic drugs (mitomycin, carmustine, etc.), it increases the efficacy and reduces the toxic side effects during chemotherapy. 4.It has synergistic effect with immunotherapy drugs (interferon-α2b). 5.It slows down the pain of advanced cancer patients, increases appetite and improves the quality of life of patients.