Counting your antigens
Normally, the immune system is able to differentiate between healthy and abnormal cells. Peptides, fragments created by the synthesis and breakdown of proteins inside each cell, are presented on the surface as antigens and act as signals to immune cells whether the cell should be left alone or flagged for destruction and removal. Because cancer cells display a small number of tumor-associated antigens and antigens that result from genetic mutations, they can be targeted by the immune system. However, cancer cells can develop strategies for evading detection by the immune system. Cancer immunotherapies counteract those strategies, but only for some cancers and only in some patients. Those that do work produce powerful results. Researchers and clinicians are exploring how to improve the success rate of immunotherapies for more cancer types and patients. In this effort, they are combining immunotherapies with targeted therapies, small molecules designed to inhibit selected protein targets in the...