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Received Feb 18, 2018; Accepted Feb 19, 2018
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The immune system is naturally able to detect and destroy abnormal cells thus preventing the development of many cancers. Nevertheless, sometimes cancer cells may avoid detection and destruction by the immune system. Cancer cells may decrease the expression of tumor antigens on their surface, making it harder for the immune system to detect them, express on their surface proteins that induce immune cell inactivation, induce cells in the microenvironment to release factors that suppress immune responses, and promote tumor cell proliferation and survival. In the past few years, the field of cancer immunology has rapidly advanced and led to several new treatment strategies for cancer patients, which may increase the strength of immune responses against tumors. Immunotherapies may work by either stimulating the activities of...