The team of Dr. Klatzmann of the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris has discovered that in the early days of cancer development, the human immune system does not recognize these cells as cells to be eliminated, but as normal cells to be protect.

The premise of “the immunosurveillance” Cancer by the immune system has been an idea formulated by scientists a century back. Under this assumption, the immune system would be able to treat the cancer cells as abnormal and to eliminate them.

The Study by the team of Dr. Klatzmann shows that this assumption is incorrect since the “immunosurveillance” is consistent with protection of cells as they arise. Two types of lymphocytes involved in the immune response: T lymphocytes regulators protect against attack while immune effector T lymphocytes destroy foreign components of the response.

Tests on animals shows that during the early days of life of cancer cells, in fact the lymphocytes T regulator triggers the immune response, and not the effector. Effectors are in fact blocked by regulators and prevent the destruction of these cells.

Without lymphocytes regulators, tests showed that the effectors are being set up and destroy cancer cells. Control of  T cell regulators should become a new avenue of research for future therapies and treatments against cancer, especially for an anti-tumor preventive vaccination.