E-Mail IMAGE: Cancer evades the immune system by "feeding " the T cells that protect the tumor and "starving " the T cells that would attack. view more Credit: UPMC, created with BioRender.com PITTSBURGH, Feb. 15, 2021 - A paper published today in Nature shows how chemicals in the areas surrounding tumors--known as the tumor microenvironment--subvert the immune system and enable cancer to evade attack. These findings suggest that an existing drug could boost cancer immunotherapy. The study was conducted by a team of scientists at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, led by Greg Delgoffe, Ph.D., Pitt associate professor of immunology. By disrupting the effect of the tumor microenvironment on immune cells in mice, the researchers were able to shrink tumors, prolong survival and increase sensitivity to immunotherapy.