These drugs block immune checkpoints, which are the “brakes” of your immune system. Some cancer cells have checkpoints that prevent white blood cells, called T cells, from attacking them. Checkpoint inhibitors block the checkpoints so T cells can do their job.

Immunomodulators are drugs that enhance your immune system’s ability to detect and eliminate cancer cells.

Antibodies are proteins that circulate in your blood, searching for foreign invaders. Laboratory-made monoclonal antibodies attach to certain proteins on cancer cells. When they meet their target, they attack the cancer cell in different ways. Some monoclonal antibodies act as targeted therapy, blocking cell growth or causing cells to self-destruct. Others are immunotherapy agents that flag the cell for destruction by the immune system.

A bispecific antibody is a monoclonal antibody that can simultaneously bind to two different cell surface markers.  Bispecific antibodies are also called dual-specific antibodies, bifunctional antibodies, or T-cell–engaging antibodies. One piece of a bispecific antibody seeks out and binds to surface markers on cancer cells making them easier for the immune system to find. The other piece binds to T cells, bringing them directly in contact with cancer cells so the T cells can recognize and destroy them.  Bispecific antibodies do not have to be personalized to each patient and are a new type of cancer therapy we offer as an approved treatment or through clinical trials.

Cancer vaccines help treat cancer by boosting your body’s natural immune response. They help your immune system recognize markers on cancer cells and activate infection-fighting white blood cells.

Viruses use your cells to make more viruses. Scientists have designed oncolytic viruses to infect cancer cells while avoiding healthy cells. The virus acts by making copies of itself, then killing the cancer cell. The new viruses circulate throughout the body looking for more cancer cells to infect.