Cancer is one of the most dangerous challenges of modern medicine. Its insidiousness lies in the ability of tumor cells to deceive the immune system: they disguise themselves as "their own," avoiding destruction, and even provoke chronic inflammation that promotes their growth.
Scientific approaches to overcoming this problem are discussed in an article on the ZN.UA website by Oksana Mankovska, a research associate at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the NAS of Ukraine, candidate of biological sciences.
Today, researchers are developing innovative immunotherapy methods designed to "retrain" the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells. Among them are CAR-T therapy, where the patient's own T-lymphocytes are genetically modified to target the tumor; personalized mRNA and DNA vaccines that activate immunity based on unique tumor antigens; as well as approaches that change macrophage behavior, turning them from supporting the tumor to protecting the body.
These technologies are at the forefront of medical science and open new possibilities for combating oncological diseases that until recently seemed invincible.