The paradox of the immune system and cancer is not just a scientific puzzle; it has deep moral reverberations. We know that the immune system is supposed to be “good,” and in the popular health literature we are urged to take measures to strengthen it. Cancer patients in particular are exhorted to think “positive thoughts,” on the unproven theory that the immune system is the channel of communication between one’s conscious mind and one’s evidently unconscious body. But if the immune system can actually enable the growth and spread of cancer, nothing may be worse for the patient than a
...more
