To do this, they used antibodies designed to bind to and thus decommission the molecules on T cells that are used to shake hands with antigen-presenting cells.

ECONOMIST: Breaching the body's defences

Antigen-presenting cells collect fragments of proteins from foreign bodies (normally pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, but also transplanted organs) and show these to T cells, in order to tell them what to attack.

ECONOMIST: Breaching the body's defences

Pfizer's drug tremelimumab and Bristol-Myers Squibb's ipilimumab are antibodies to a protein called CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4) that acts as an emergency brake to prevent killer T cells from attacking healthy tissue.

FORBES: Targeting Melanoma