Cancer Information

Posts Tagged ‘Tumor antigens’

An antigen is a foreign substance recognized and marked by the body’s immune system to be destroyed. The antigens are found on the surface of all cells, but usually an individual’s immune system does not react against its own cells. When a cell becomes cancer, new antigens (unfamiliar to the immune system) appears on the surface of this cell and the immune system may consider these new antigens, called Tumor antigens as foreign and is able to stop or destroy these cells cancer. However, even fully operational, the immune system does not always destroy all the cancer cells.

Tumor antigens have been identified in several types of cancer, including malignant melanoma, bone cancer (osteosarcoma) and some types of gastrointestinal cancers. People with these cancers can develop antibodies against these tumor antigens, but antigens usually do not produce an adequate immune response to cancer control. In addition, antibodies may be incapable of destroying the cancer and sometimes even seems to stimulate their growth.
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