Can we use the immune system to combat cancer?

We know that our immune system is a key player when it comes to cancer - the body’s army of cells that defend against external threats such as viruses and bacteria also have an important role in attacking cancer cells. But often, cancer cells can ‘hide’ from the immune system, escaping attack. This can be a catalyst for the cancer growing out of control and spreading to other organs. For this reason, finding ways to help immune cells detect and kill these ‘hiding’ cancer cells has great promise as a potential treatment for the disease. A team at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have been looking into just this. To find out more, Isabelle Cochrane spoke to Ashish Kulkarni, who led the study…