The findings of a recent study, which will appear in Cancer Cell this month, provide a clue to the mystery of multiple myeloma cancer cells’ resistance to powerful drugs. A specific type of immune system cell is literally “switching teams” and protecting the cancer cells instead of destroying them.

The study’s authors note that this is the first time that any type of immune system cell has been shown to protect cancer cells.

“The study has identified a defect in a component of the immune system called plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs),” says …