Immune System Definition

Immune System: The body’s defense against external microbes and viruses, and also the body’s “cleanup crew” for deranged and mutated cells. Incredibly complex, it can be strengthened or weakened by nutrition, emotional states, sleep (or lack of it) and stress. A strong immune system deploys cancer-fighting cells to destroy cancer, but if cancer overwhelms the system (which it can), immunity is suppressed. This creates a higher risk for secondary infections. There is even evidence that cancer can recruit certain immune cells to help the cancer spread or metastasize. For more details on how the immune system operates, see the vaccination discussion on page 87 of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide. Strategic boosting of the immune system is an important part of Full Spectrum cancer care.