Immunotherapy (IO) for Cancer Treatment in India

Avishek Roy

Scientific Liaison Manager
4baseCare

Immunotherapy, a type of cancer treatment involves the use of immune cells of the body to attack the cancer cells. The objective of immunotherapy is to target and eradicate malignant cells by improving or restoring the body’s immune system.

The Immune Check Point Inhibitors(ICI)

The presence of Immune Check Point biomarkers (IC) is a potential predictive marker in Immunotherapy. These markers can be identified using sequencing analysis as the makers are coded by the genes present in the nucleus of the cells. The objective to detect these biomarkers is to enhance the effectiveness of the treatment, reduce toxicities, and focus on targeted therapies for better outcomes. The greatest focus has been on tumour-cell PD-L1 expression, TMB or Tumor Mutational Burden, and MSI or Microsatellite Instability. Immunotherapy involves the use of mAbs or monoclonal antibodies that targets PD-1, PD -L1, etc., thus helping in detecting cancers like Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer(NSCLC). In breast cancer, FDA approved HER2 as the first checkpoint inhibitor for breast cancer. Similarly, FDA has also approved two targeted therapies and one checkpoint inhibitor that is PD -L1 for esophageal cancer. In the case of Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated head and neck cancer, patients may benefit most from immunotherapy. The treatment will lessen the side effects caused by other treatments. For these tumors, the FDA has approved two checkpoint inhibitors and one targeted antibody. Patients who have high rates of these biomarkers should opt for immunotherapy. To determine the presence, one must take up a genetic test to identify the root cause of cancer.

Immunotherapy vs Chemotherapy

Let us understand the impact of immunotherapy by comparing it with conventional treatments like chemotherapy.

Immunotherapy and Chemotherapy involve the use of drugs to prevent the growth of cancer cells, but the action of these drugs varies in both these treatments.

• Immunotherapy, as previously said, aims to improve the immune system’s ability to target cancer cells.
• Chemotherapy involves the use of chemicals to attack cancer cells.
• Chemotherapy drugs lose their potency when the amount of drug in the body system decreases, but in the case of immunotherapy, the immune system’s ability is unaffected by the presence of a memory response.
• The major drawback of chemotherapy is the lack of specificity, in simple terms, the drugs can attack normal healthy cells which is not observed in the case of immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy costs in India

Cancer therapy or cancer treatments when compared to western countries or developed countries like the USA, UK, etc., are considered to be 60-80% less expensive. The treatment quality is not compromised due to less cost. Due to enhanced treatment quality and affordability, people across the globe reach out to India for cancer therapy.

The average cost of cancer treatments is depicted in the tabular format:

4baseCare’s Offerings

The field of immunotherapy is rapidly evolving in cancer treatments. The era of cancer research focuses on utilizing advanced sequencing techniques like NGS and combing specific treatments like immunotherapy enables the Oncologists to treat cancer patients effectively.

4baseCare provides genetic tests that enable to detection of a wide range of various biomarkers that are essential for identifying cancer and determining the right form of treatment for the cancer patient. 4baseCare genetic test portfolio contains TarGT Indiegene, TarGT Absolute, and TarGT Absolute plus which are potent tests to detect biomarkers essential for immunotherapy. These tests cover about 28 different cancer types and analyses about 20,000 genes. Therefore, these tests enable clarity for the Oncologists to focus on the right form of treatment that is specific and effective for the cancer patient.

To know more about our genetic tests, click on this link below NGS Tests at 4baseCare

REFERENCES :

1. Types of cancer immunotherapy can treat. (n.d.). WebMD.
2. Misty Dawn Shields, Julian A. Marin-Acevedo, Bruna Pellini (2021). American Society of Clinical Oncology Educational Book.
3. How much does cancer treatment cost in India? (n.d.).
4. Predictive biomarkers for checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapy. (n.d.). PubMed Central (PMC).
5. Yetman, D. (n.d.). Immunotherapy vs chemotherapy: Uses, similarities & differences. Healthline.
6. (2022, May 20). 4baseCare.