The era of tumor immunotherapy has arrived

Modern medicine has changed the treatment of malignant tumors from group treatment to emphasize individualized treatment; the evaluation of efficacy has also changed from the evaluation mode of CR (complete tumor regression), PR (partial tumor regression), SD (stable disease), PD (disease progression) to the evaluation indexes of OS (overall survival time), PFS (disease progression-free time), etc., focusing on the quality of life. model. However, the improvement of patients’ immune status for the treatment of malignant tumors has not been more widely accepted and recognized. Tumor immunotherapy, except for individual diseases such as kidney cancer and malignant melanoma, has always been outside of the mainstream anti-tumor treatment protocols. In recent years, more and more domestic and foreign studies have confirmed that immunotherapy has an important value for the prevention and treatment of malignant tumors. 2013, the success of PD-1 inhibitors and PD-L1 inhibitors in phase II clinics is considered to have opened a new era of tumor immunotherapy. The theory of mobilizing the body’s immune system to kill tumors can be traced back to the 1890s, when Professor William Coley found that certain tumor patients with postoperative infections had better regression, and he speculated that the immune response induced by the infection helped to kill the tumors. And in the 1970s, Professor Liu Jiaxiang of our hospital was the first one in China to put forward the theory of helping (improving immune function) to cure cancer, and after more than 40 years, the theory has been continuously improved and enriched. Tumor immunologists believe that in patients who respond well to immunotherapy, the immune system can create a balance between the tumor and the body, making the tumor a chronic disease and the patient living with the tumor for a long time. Therefore, we recommend patients to supplement with TCM treatment to help fight against cancer as soon as possible after diagnosis, instead of thinking of Chinese medicine only after the disease has been prolonged and western medical treatment (radiotherapy, targeted therapy, etc.) has failed to help. Professor Jeffrey Schlom of the National Cancer Institute pointed out that previous research on tumor immunotherapy was conducted in very advanced patients, whose immune systems were severely damaged by chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and that repeated failure of immunotherapy was inevitable. Analysts believe that immunotherapy may get better results for tumor patients in preventing recurrence and metastasis. Because the immune system usually needs several months to complete the “equipment” to kill the tumor, it is necessary to allow such time for the immune system. If the body’s immune system is improved and enhanced, it can play a long-term role in monitoring and killing tumors.