{"id":244290,"date":"2026-04-10T23:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T23:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/244290\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T23:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T23:04:15","slug":"immunosuppressants-what-is-their-role-in-cancer-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/244290\/","title":{"rendered":"Immunosuppressants: What is their role in cancer care?"},"content":{"rendered":"

An immunosuppressant is anything that diminishes the body\u2019s natural ability to respond to threats, such as cancer<\/a> or viruses, like the ones that cause the common cold<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, due to autoimmune disorders such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma or Sj\u00f6gren\u2019s syndrome, the immune system is already suppressed<\/a>. But in the context of cancer care<\/a>, immunosuppressants are drugs that we sometimes give to patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, why might you need an immunosuppressant? How do immunosuppressants work? And, how are they used in the treatment of cancer<\/a> and its side effects<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Read on for the answers to these questions and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why might somebody\u00a0need an immunosuppressant?<\/p>\n

We use immunosuppressants\u00a0during\u00a0cancer treatment for several reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before a\u00a0stem cell transplant<\/p>\n

We give patients chemotherapy before a stem cell transplant<\/a> to kill any remaining cancer cells and to dampen their immune systems. The goal is to create a \u201cclean slate.\u201d That way, when donor cells arrive, they don\u2019t have a big fight on their hands. It\u2019s not impossible for donor cells to engraft properly if the host\u2019s own stem cells are still present, but it does make the process much more difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a stem cell transplant<\/p>\n

We use various drugs\u00a0after a stem cell transplant\u00a0to\u00a0prevent:\u00a0<\/p>\n

The patient\u2019s own immune system from rejecting the donor\u2019s cells
\nThe donor\u2019s cells from attacking the patient\u2019s tissues, a condition known as graft vs. host disease (GVHD)<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other situations<\/p>\n

Inflammation<\/a> can be a positive sign that your immune system is working correctly. But when inflammation gets out of control, it can start causing problems. So, the \u201cfire\u201d must stay within certain boundaries. You just want the warmth and the heat and the glow of a \u201ccontrolled burn,\u201d not a raging wildfire. So, sometimes, we use steroids<\/a> or other drugs to calm things down when a patient\u2019s immune system gets too ramped up.<\/p>\n

Immunosuppressants are also used quite a bit in solid organ transplants, but we don\u2019t perform those here at UT MD Anderson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How do immunosuppressants\u00a0work?<\/p>\n

That depends. The immune system is quite complex, so there are many different ways to calm it down. The two main branches involved are:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cell-mediated immunity,\u00a0which is driven\u00a0by\u00a0T cells<\/a>
\nHumoral immunity,\u00a0which\u00a0is\u00a0driven\u00a0by\u00a0antibodies\u00a0and B cells\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Steroids eliminate both B cells and T cells, so they cover it all. Chemotherapy<\/a> does the same thing.\u00a0Other drugs target just one type of cell.\u00a0So, it really depends on which branch of the immune system you\u2019re looking to calm down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What are some examples of immunosuppressants?<\/p>\n

Name: Tacrolimus\u00a0\u00a0
Class: Macrolide lactone\u00a0\u00a0
How\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0used:\u00a0A\u00a0calcurine\u00a0inhibitor\u00a0that\u00a0reduces\u00a0the activation of T cells and the production of a signaling protein called IL-2\u00a0
How\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0administered: comes in\u00a0pill and IV\u00a0form\u00a0<\/p>\n

Name: Sirolimus\u00a0\u00a0
Class: Macrolide antibiotic\u00a0
How\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0used:\u00a0an\u00a0mTOR inhibitor\u00a0that\u00a0blocks\u00a0the activation of T cells\u00a0
How\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0administered: comes in\u00a0pill and liquid\u00a0form\u00a0<\/p>\n

Name:\u00a0Mycophenolate\u00a0\u00a0
Class: Antimetabolites\u00a0
How\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0used:\u00a0mimics the nutrients T cells need and disrupts their growth process, which causes the cells to wear out and die much sooner than they normally would\u00a0
How\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0administered: comes in\u00a0pill and IV\u00a0form\u00a0<\/p>\n

Name:\u00a0Abatacept\u00a0\u00a0
Class:\u00a0Biologics\u00a0
How\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0used:\u00a0blocks\u00a0the initial activation of T cells\u00a0
How\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0administered: comes in\u00a0IV form\u00a0only<\/p>\n

Name: Cyclophosphamide\u00a0
Class: Alkylating agent\u00a0
How\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0used:\u00a0given on days 3 and 4 after a stem cell transplant to reduce the reactive T cells that can drive GVHD\u00a0\u00a0
How\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0administered: comes in IV form only\u00a0<\/p>\n

But\u00a0these are\u00a0all different classes of drugs.\u00a0The\u00a0one thing they have in common is that\u00a0they\u00a0can\u00a0block or\u00a0calm down T cell activation, the process of \u201cwaking up\u201d the immune system to attack.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which immunosuppressant is used the most?<\/p>\n

Tacrolimus is\u00a0probably the one we use\u00a0most\u00a0frequently with our stem cell transplant patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How long do you have to remain on immunosuppressants?<\/p>\n

That depends. If you\u2019ve had a kidney, liver or lung transplant, you\u2019ll likely be on them for the rest of your life. The reason is that those organs will continue to express their original donor\u2019s proteins, which your body would otherwise still recognize as \u201cnot self\u201d and attack, resulting in organ rejection. But stem cell transplant patients don\u2019t normally have to be on immunosuppressants for very long.<\/p>\n

Stem cells can develop into many different types of cells. Once they\u2019ve engrafted properly and started copying themselves, all the new T cells and B cells created by your bone marrow will become your new immune system and become tolerant of your body tissues. That means any proteins expressed by your tissues will be familiar to your new immune cells.<\/p>\n

That being said, most stem cell transplant recipients can expect to be on immunosuppressant therapy for about six months. If we see no evidence of GVHD during the first 100 days after a transplant, we can talk about stopping earlier. In some cases, that could be as soon as four months after a transplant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Can anything else cause immunosuppression?<\/p>\n

Yes. Autoimmune disorders. But I tend to think of those as a supply and demand problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s only a limited supply of T cells and B cells in the body. With autoimmune disorders, the body is too busy attacking its own tissues to fight off infections<\/a>. Its treatment is often geared toward eliminating T cells and B cells. So, that can reduce your immune response even more.<\/p>\n

Viral infections can also suppress the immune system, especially if they infiltrate the bone marrow and affect the new graft in stem cell transplant recipients.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Ramdial, M.D<\/a>., is a stem cell transplant specialist.<\/p>\n

Request an appointment at\u00a0UT\u00a0MD Anderson online<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0call 1-877-632-6789.<\/p>\n

An immunosuppressant is anything that diminishes the body\u2019s natural ability to respond to threats.
\nIn the context of cancer treatment, these are drugs used both before and after stem cell transplants, as well as to reduce inflammation.
\nStem cell transplant recipients don\u2019t normally have to remain on immunosuppressants for long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An immunosuppressant is anything that diminishes the body\u2019s natural ability to respond to threats, such as cancer or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1145,1143,1142,56,58,57,1144,12145,93318,76813,1148,76810,76812,2822],"class_list":{"0":"post-244290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-caregivers","9":"tag-diagnosis-treatment","10":"tag-family-friends","11":"tag-houston","12":"tag-houston-headlines","13":"tag-houston-news","14":"tag-leukemia","15":"tag-lymphoma","16":"tag-multiple-myeloma","17":"tag-myelodysplastic-syndrome","18":"tag-patients","19":"tag-stem-cell-transplantation-and-cellular-therapy","20":"tag-stem-cell-transplantation-cellular-therapy","21":"tag-survivors"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}