Until now, chemo and radiation therapy have been main cancer treatments but they can also damage healthy tissues. Immunotherapy uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer with minimal harm
Most tumors are made up of many different kinds of cancer cells, as shown in this pancreatic cancer sample from a mouse.
Ravikanth Maddipati/Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania via National Cancer Institute
Preventive and therapeutic vaccines both train the immune system to fight disease, but they are used in different ways.
Former President Jimmy Carter pictured at an Atlanta Braves-Toronto Blue Jays game in Atlanta on Sept. 17, 2015, shortly after being treated for melanoma.
AP Photo/John Bazemore
Cancer mortality has dropped in the US, due largely to lower smoking rates, as well as early detection and better treatments. These advances often do not extend to people in developing nations.