Abstract
The premise of immunotherapy is that cancer is non-self and antigenic, and therefore is capable of eliciting an immune response. The absence of an immune response is attributed to evasion mechanisms.
On the basis of the work of Tasuku Honjo (Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan) and others, releasing the immune brakes and activation of T cells might be a logical way of treating cancer. However, the immune distinction between foreign and self is not absolute, and intervention can be misdirected.