A new multimillion-pound research programme, involving scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, is aiming to discover why at least half of all patients fail to respond to immunotherapy or suffer from debilitating side effects.

More than half of people diagnosed with advanced melanoma are now surviving the disease for ten years or more when they receive a combination immunotherapy treatment, according to a study led by researchers from the ICR and The Royal Marsden.  

Scientists have discovered the key features of immune B cells which make them successful at targeting tumours – including when cancer has spread to a different part of the body.