For a malignant tumor to form, cancer cells must evade the immune system's attack. Numerous studies have already shown that cancer spreads particularly aggressively if there is an unfavorable balance between suppressing and active immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. "But we didn't know whether this is a consequence of an aggressive tumor or rather its cause," says Rudolf Kaaks, epidemiologist at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ).
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