When cancer forms, the cells have many mutations which would make them appear foreign to our body's immune system and should trigger an immune response which destroys them.
One of the reasons this does not happen in many cancers is that they also produce a a "checkpoint" molecule that tells the body's defense cells to desist.
Researchers have produced a drug that can block this checkpoint molecule therefore leaving the cancer cell vulnerable to the body's defense system. After checkpoint-inhibitor treatment with pembrolizumab (Keytruda), some responses were seen in 53% of patients, and complete responses were seen in 21% in 12 different types of cancer including metastatic cancers previously thought incurable. Treatment generally was tolerated well, although there is some concern about the possibility of attacks on normal tissues.
Currently about 60,000 patients a year could fall into the response group. We will have to see if relapse or resistance becomes a problem.
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