Immunotherapy is the newest weapon in the fight against cancer

Source: Los Angeles Times, October 2017

The human immune system is both clever and powerful. But it is often foiled by cancer’s wily ways.
A new approach to cancer treatment — immunotherapy — aims to unmask the disease for the deadly threat it is, then direct the full force of the immune system on malignancies that would otherwise grow and spread unchecked.
Our multilayered immune defenses spot most foreign invaders and crush them decisively. But cancer, arising out of one or more mutations in our DNA, is a home-grown threat with a deceptively reassuring look. Even as cells multiply and spread, malignant cells cloak themselves in innocent garb.