Final answer:
B) Yes, cancer cells weaken the body's defenses
Yes, cancer cells can indeed weaken the body's defenses by suppressing the immune system. They avoid immune detection and can resist apoptosis, making the body more vulnerable to not only cancer but also to other infections and diseases.
Step-by-step explanation:
Do cancer cells make the body vulnerable? The most accurate response is yes, cancer cells weaken the body's defenses. Cancer cells can actively suppress the immune response in various ways. In some cancers, such as leukemia, the very cells that are supposed to facilitate the immune response become abnormal. Other cancerous cells may express proteins that inhibit cytotoxic T cells or induce regulatory T cells, ultimately leading to a suppression of immune responses. This suppression can be severe and can limit the body’s ability to fight not only the cancer itself but also other infections and diseases.
The immune system typically recognizes and destroys cancer cells through adaptive immunity, where tumor antigens present on the abnormal cells activate helper T cells, which in turn stimulate cytotoxic T cells and NK cells to attack the cancerous cells. Unfortunately, cancer cells often develop mechanisms to evade this immune detection, enabling their survival and proliferation within the body.
Despite ongoing research and development of treatments such as cancer vaccines, which aim to boost the immune system's ability to fight off cancer, the inherent ability of cancer cells to suppress immune responses and resist apoptosis remains a critical challenge in cancer treatment.