Immunodeficiencies
Cancer is apt to develop in individuals who exhibit an immunodeficiency. For example, cervical cancer develops in women and Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer of the blood ves-
sels, develops in many persons with AIDS. Transplant patients who are on immunosuppressive drugs are more apt to develop lymphomas and Kaposi's sarcoma.
It appears, then, that an active immune system can help protect us from cancer. Mutated cells may display antigens that normally subject them to attack by T lym-
phocytes and possibly also antibodies. Cancer is seen more often among the elderly, perhaps because the immune system weakens as we age.
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