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Cells that have become cancerous often display novel antigens that appear “foreign” to the host and elicit a host immune response. Yet immune responses typically have little effect on the course of cancers. Indeed, for many years, oncologists and cancer biologists doubted that the immune system could be marshalled to eradicate cancer. However, in recent years, at least three different approaches have gained traction.
Checkpoint-inhibitor therapy: unleashing the immune attack. When T cells are activated (e.g., when cancer cells elicit an immune response), the activated T cells paradoxically produce “checkpoint” molecules that then abort the T-cell attack. The two best known of these checkpoint molecules are CTLA-4 and PD-1. Monoclonal antibod…