Cancer and Diagnostics

Cancer Immunology

Cancer immunology is a branch of immunology that focuses on the interactions between the immune system and cancer cells. It seeks to understand how the immune system recognizes and responds to cancer cells, as well as how cancer cells evade or suppress the immune response.

The immune system plays a critical role in defending the body against cancer. Immune cells, such as T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, are able to recognize and destroy cancer cells. However, cancer cells can develop a variety of mechanisms to evade immune recognition and destruction, such as by downregulating the expression of molecules that are recognized by immune cells or by secreting immunosuppressive molecules.

Cancer immunology seeks to understand these mechanisms and develop strategies to overcome them. This can involve the development of immunotherapies, which are treatments that harness the power of the immune system to target cancer cells. Immunotherapies can include monoclonal antibodies, which are engineered proteins that target specific molecules on cancer cells, as well as cell-based therapies, such as CAR-T cell therapy, which involves genetically engineering a patient's own T cells to target and destroy cancer cells.