The new drug that seems to have obliterated Jimmy Carter's tumors is part of a revolutionary approach to cancer therapy. It's called immunotherapy and the idea behind it is to marshal the body's own defenses and aid them in the fight against cancer. Dr. Natalie Azar helps explain what that means.
5 things you need to know about cancer immunotherapy
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Q: What is immunotherapy?
A: Immunotherapy helps the body's own immune system to battle harder and smarter against cancer cells. One reason the body has a tough time mounting an attack on cancer is that tumors are composed of our own cells. Those cells have mutated in a way that allows them to grow out of control. But because they are our own cells, the immune system may not see them as foreign invaders that need to be destroyed. One approach has been to find ways to show the immune system that the cancer cells are invaders and must be targeted and destroyed.
