Two papers have appeared in quick succession that just need to be put together and I need to tell you what they mean in the context of a more familiar paper. And it’s a real problem. To be honest I wasn’t paying that much attention until my favourite anonymous proteomics scientist sent this message in a telegram group (btw thanks Pavel Durov, you gave us a home when twitter sent us into exile). It was about IgG4.
Mid-Page Summary
So, now we have a problem on multiple pathways leading to the same scenario.
- Suppression of the body’s defence against cancer
- Suppression of the body’s defence against viruses
- Exhaustion of the very components of the immune system that protect against those two things.
Do you know what this reminds me of?
Kaposi’s sarcoma. It’s what happens when your immune system is so depleted it can’t suppress tumours that are unheard of in people that have a functioning immune system.