As Cancer cells originate from the bodies own cells, they can develop mechanisms to avoid detection, suppress immune responses and even make the tumour environment hostile to immune cells. Immunotherapy seeks to combat this, and is much more nuanced than simply increasing the number of immune cells or improving general wellbeing and includes:
Showing the immune system what to look for.
Dendritic cell vaccines can be prepared using information from the patient's cancer, like antigens. The dendritic cells then present those cancer markers to the immune system, helping activate cancer-specific T-cell responses. They can also interact with and activate NK cells. This can help create a more targeted, adaptive immune response rather than just stimulating general immunity.
Directly attacking the cancer.
Natural Killer (NK) cells are part of the body’s innate immune system. Unlike T-cells, they don't need to recognise certain antigens before acting - they can recognise cells showing signs of stress or abnormality and destroy them.
Releasing the immune system’s brakes.
Checkpoint inhibitors block some of the brakes that cancer exploits to hide from the immune system, allowing immune cells to remain more active against the cancer.
