The number of new cases of cancer is expected to rise by about 70% to 22 million new cases per year during the next 20 years.
With these staggering statistics, it’s no wonder researchers are always looking for new ways to prevent and fight this disease.
One new treatment is known as immunotherapies for cancer. While chemotherapy or radiotherapy aims to poison cancer cells, new immunotherapies for cancer are aimed at stimulating and boosting the body’s own immune response to destroy cancer cells.
The role of the immune system
To understand how this treatment works, it helps to take a closer look at our amazing immune systems.
The immune system consists of a complex collection of organs and cells that protect the body from micro-organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, other toxic molecules and cancer cells that cause disease.
One of the functions of the immune system is to prevent entry into the body of disease-causing organisms, molecules and cells. Barriers to entry include the skin, whilst organs such as the stomach, produce digestive enzymes that destroy microbes upon entry
Dangerous molecules that are already inside the body are eliminated by white blood cells, which include macrophages, lymphocytes and specialised white blood cells (leukocytes), including B-cells, T-cells and natural killer (NK) cells.
