Page 88 - Bio Engineering Approaches to Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

86 CHAPTER 4 Immunotherapy

FIGURE 4.9 A schematic of a tumor containing a cancer stem cell.

less noticeable in the past, may be considered as the main issue of chemotherapy for
cancer treatment now. Cancer stem cells are important due to the recurrence of dis-
ease and metastasis to other parts of the body [47]. In Fig. 4.9, a schematic represen-
tation of the cancer stem cell shows that, unlike cancer cells, it has not been apoptotic
and has caused disease recurrence and the formation of a tumor in another region.
In Fig. 4.9, representation of a tumor containing a cancer stem cell that did not dis-
appear after chemotherapy in spite of apoptosis of cancer cells. The surviving cancer
stem cell after chemotherapy has caused a new tumor and recurrence of the disease.
Chemotherapy is commonly used in combination with other conventional
treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy, hormone therapy and in recent years,
immunotherapy.

4.4.2 Chemo immunotherapy
As mentioned in the previous section, chemotherapy is usually used in combination
with radiotherapy, surgery and hormone therapy to treat cancer. But in recent years,
it has been proven that these therapies are not sufficient for the definitive treatment
of patients with cancer, and the possibility of a relapse of the disease exists even after