Immunotherapy describes the way in which the immune system can be harnessed to fight disease. Indeed it is currently the most promising new approach to treating cancer.
The immune system constantly carries out surveillance of the tissues in the body so that when tumours begin to develop they are recognised and quickly destroyed. However tumours themselves employ a number of strategies to evade or suppress this immune response. As we learn more about how these operate, it is becoming possible to devise ways to counteract their effects. Immunotherapy is therefore seen as a very smart approach to attack cancer from within the body.