T Cells Take On Cancer

Microscopic imaging shows how immune cells attack cancer.

Image by Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library

This image is a colored scanning electron micrograph of T cells (smaller round cells) attached to a cancer cell. T cells are a type of white blood cell and one of the components of the body’s immune system. They recognize an antigen on the surface of cancer cells or pathogens and bind to it. Some T cells then signal for other immune system cells to try to eliminate the cancer cell.