Turning immune cells into tumor allies: A cancer cell protein can reprogram frontline defenders

Cancer cells can disarm the immune system not just by hiding from it, but by actively reprogramming nearby immune cells into a suppressed state. This previously unrecognized molecular interaction, discovered by scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, could become a new target to disable and potentially aid patients with cancers that defy the form of immunotherapy known as the checkpoint blockade.