Immunotherapy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A medical treatment that utilizes the body’s immune system to target and destroy diseases, primarily cancers, by either boosting its capabilities or utilizing biological agents
2. A therapeutic approach that harnesses the immune system to combat diseases, especially cancer, by enhancing its function or deploying biological substances
3. A treatment modality that engages the body’s immune defenses to eliminate harmful cells, such as malignant tumors, through stimulation or biological agents

Etymology: Immunotherapy is a plain modern compound, and its history is easiest to follow through its two halves. The first half, "immuno-", comes from "immune", which English borrowed from Middle French "immun" and which traces back to Latin "immūnis", meaning "exempt from a duty or service", built from "in-" ("not") and "mūnus" ("duty, service"). The sense of exemption from a duty later extended to exemption from disease, which is where the medical meaning comes from. The second half, "therapy", takes a different route. It descends from the ancient Greek "therapeia", meaning "service" or "attendance", ultimately linked to "therapōn", an attendant or servant. Its medical sense of treating illness emerged gradually, passing through New Latin "therapia" before reaching English. Put together, the word describes treating disease by working with the body's own defenses. Its earlier Greek sense of serving or attending a person is still visible beneath the modern clinical use.

Synonyms: biotherapy, biological therapy, immune treatment, immunomodulation, immune enhancement

Antonyms: chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, traditional medicine, palliative care