New drugs harness the body's own cancer-fighting abilities

Immunotherapy drugs boast greater efficacy with fewer side effects

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Merck's research facility in the U.S. state of Massachusetts

TAKURO KUSASHIO, Nikkei staff writer

OSAKA -- A new class of drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors could drastically change the way cancer is treated. Rather than attack cancer cells directly, like conventional drugs, these new treatments work by unleashing the cancer-killing ability of the body's immune system.

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