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Cancer

Immunotherapy: Is It Right for Your Kind of Cancer?

Lauren Smith, MAKaren Hovav, MD, FAAP
Written by Lauren Smith, MA | Reviewed by Karen Hovav, MD, FAAP
Updated on September 14, 2025
Featuring Rujuta Saksena, MDReviewed by Karen Hovav, MD, FAAP | September 14, 2025

One of the newer types of treatment against cancer is known as immunotherapy. It comes in many types, but essentially, immunotherapy is the use of medicines to boost the body’s own immune system to shrink or eliminate cancer cells.

Immunotherapy has a number of advantages. Because it uses your own immune system to target cancer cells effectively, you end up with fewer side effects than chemotherapy or radiation. Learn more about the difference between immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

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Lauren Smith, MA
Written by:
Lauren Smith, MA
Lauren Smith, MA, has worked in health journalism since 2017. Before joining GoodRx, she was the senior health editor and writer for HealthiNation.
Karen Hovav, MD, FAAP, has more than 15 years of experience as an attending pediatrician. She has worked in a large academic center in an urban city, a small community hospital, a private practice, and an urgent care clinic.

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