Chemotherapy vs. Immunotherapy: side effects and more

Dr Joaquim Bellmunt from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA compares chemotherapy to immunotherapy at the European Association of Urology (EAU) conference 2017 in London, UK. Chemotherapy is the treatment of disease with the use of chemical substances, whereas immunotherapy is the use of substances to stimulate or enhance an immune response. The side effects associated with chemotherapy include, nausea, vomiting and alopecia however, the side effects associated with immunotherapy are more immunogenic and involve auto-immune functions such as skin conditions like rashes. Most of these side effects are eliminated with the termination of therapy and the administration of high-dose steroids. Some immunotherapy agents that have already been approves in the USA are atezolizumab and nivolumab.