Cancer and the Immune System:
The Vital Connection

We recognize that patients and caregivers looking into cancer immunotherapy
as a potential treatment option often face an uphill battle in understanding
the technical language of immunology. To help explain the science behind immunotherapy, we have prepared this free, downloadable guide:
Cancer and the Immune System: The Vital Connection (12MB PDF).

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Table of contents

Introduction: Revisiting the “C” word

Part 1: What is cancer?

• 1.1 Cell Division, Mutations, and Cancer
• 1.2 How Cancer Develops
• 1.3 Cancer Incidence and Mortality in the U.S.
• 1.4 Cancer and the Immune System

Part 2: The human immune system

• 2.1 Innate Immunity: Our First Line of Defense
• 2.2 Adaptive Immunity: Learning the Enemy’s Tricks
• 2.3 Inflammation: Linking Innate and Adaptive Immunity
• 2.4 The Humoral Immune Response: Making Antibodies
• 2.5 The Cellular Immune Response: Making “Killer” T Cells
• 2.6 Tolerance and the Problem of Autoimmunity

Part 3: Cancer immunotherapy

• 3.1 Historical Origins
• 3.2 Non-Specific Immune Stimulants
• 3.3 Antibody Immunotherapies
• 3.4 Cancer Vaccines
• 3.5 Checkpoint Blockade
• 3.6 Adoptive Cell Therapy
• 3.7 Combinations: The Future of Cancer Immunotherapy

Glossary
References
Acknowledgments

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