Cancer (young people)

Biological (targeted) therapies for cancer in young people

Biological or targeted therapies use substances that your body naturally makes to target and destroy cancer cells and may also act to trigger the immune system to help it attack the cancer. Biological therapy is also known as immunotherapy.

There are several different types of biological therapies, but the main ones are:

monoclonal antibodies (MABs)
cancer growth blockers
PARP inhibitors
vaccines
cytokines (interferon)
CAR T-cell therapy

For more information about these and other biological therapies, you may refer to the Cancer Research UK website's section on 'Targeted cancer drugs' and 'Immunotherapy'.

Stephen is waiting to see if he is eligible for a clinical trial using biological therapies.

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Age at interview: 19

Sex: Male

Age at diagnosis: 15

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So at the moment yeah, we’re, we’re waiting to see if I’m eligible for another for a clinical trial.

So you’re waiting to see whether you’re eligible?

Yeah and if I have this specific mutation then this monoclonal antibody drug it probably, will probably just go for it and try so in terms of how I feel about clinical trials, the efficacy for me might not be huge, the chances it will actually do something is very slim. With this one it’s a bit higher because there’s a proposed mechanism of why I might interact well so I’ll probably give it a go. But if it doesn’t work for me there’s a feeling, well the fact that you help patients in the future is important so I’m happy to help.

We have not yet been able to interview anyone who has had biological therapies for teenage cancer. If you have experience of this treatment and you would like us to include your story on this website, please email us at hexi@phc.ox.ac.uk.

We have some experiences of adults who have had biological therapies for cancer that you might find useful:
Breast Cancer
Leukaemia
Lymphoma

Last reviewed December 2024.
Last updated December 2024.