What Role Does the Tumor Immune Microenvironment Play in Cancer Therapy?
Understanding the TIME is crucial for developing effective cancer therapies, particularly immunotherapies. Strategies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, cancer vaccines, and adoptive cell therapies aim to modulate the TIME to enhance anti-tumor immunity. For instance, checkpoint inhibitors block proteins like PD-1/PD-L1 that tumors use to evade the immune system, thereby reinvigorating T-cell responses against cancer cells.
