使用以免疫為基礎(chǔ)的試劑，如T細(xì)胞和治療用抗體，或修飾病人的免疫系統(tǒng)使其更好的抵御疾病的方法運(yùn)用。在正常情況下免疫系統(tǒng)會(huì)以抗體和T細(xì)胞作為主要武器來(lái)消滅入侵者。免疫系統(tǒng)也能夠識(shí)別和消滅某些癌癥。當(dāng)它失靈時(shí)，人們可以分離出針對(duì)某種疾病的抗體和T細(xì)胞，注入病人體內(nèi)以增強(qiáng)病人的免疫能力。在其它情況下，不正常的免疫反應(yīng)會(huì)造成攻擊自己的組織，引起"自體免疫病"，如糖尿病。這時(shí)，免疫治療可以用來(lái)關(guān)閉這種免疫性免疫反應(yīng)，用已知的抗體或蛋白質(zhì)如細(xì)胞激動(dòng)素來(lái)影響免疫過(guò)程。過(guò)激的免疫系統(tǒng)也是引起過(guò)敏的原因，本來(lái)無(wú)害的物質(zhì)（如花粉）會(huì)引起不必要的免疫反應(yīng)。同樣的，抗體、蛋白質(zhì)或藥物可以用來(lái)改變這種免疫反應(yīng)。

The use of immune-based reagents such as T cells and antibodies for therapeutic purposes, or the use of methods that will modify a patient’s immune system to better fight disease. Under normal circumstances the immune system will eradicate an infectious agent using antibodies and T cells as its main weapons. The immune system is also capable of recognizing and eradicating certain cancers. When this does not occur, disease-specific antibodies or T cells can be isolated and introduced into a patient to enhance the patients’ immune response. In other cases, an aberrant immune response can lead to an attack on self-tissue and cause a “autoimmune disease”, such as diabetes. Here, immunotherapy may be used to switch off this damaging immune response, using antibodies or proteins such as cytokines that are known to affect the immune process. An over-reactive immune system is also the cause of allergies, where a harmless agent (such as pollen) can lead to an unnecessary immune response. Here again, antibodies, proteins or drugs can be used to modify this immune response.