Question: whats the strongest part of our immune system to fight cancer

Srinath Kasturirangan answered on 12 Mar 2019: last edited 12 Mar 2019 8:43 pm

Great question! Our immune system is composed of immune cells which have different functions. The coolest ones are macrophages and natural killer cells which can get activated when the body is invaded by an infectious agent like bacteria (or even pollen) and it can engulf and eat up the pathogen. You may have seen pictures / videos of bacteria called amoeba or paramoecium that eat what is in their environment by putting out pseudopodia or false feet. These immune cells (macrophages, natural killer cells) work in a similar fashion.

However, the cells that I work with the most are called T-cells. These cells can be taught to recognize cancer and given the right conditions, they can release toxins that can kill the cancer cells. So every part of our immune system is important to recognize, activate and kill the cancer cells.