are a group of white blood cells called lymphocytes. They destroy infected cells and cancer cells in your body. NK cells are called \u201cnatural\u201d killers because they can respond rapidly to combat potential threats even when these haven\u2019t been encountered previously.
\nare a type of white blood cell that is an important part of the immune system and helps the body fight infection. They are particularly important for protection against bacterial and fungal infections.\u00a0
\nis a lack of neutrophils in the blood that leaves patients susceptible to infections.
\nis any report of how a person feels or functions (for example, pain or fatigue) that comes directly from an individual without interpretation by a clinician, family member, carer or anyone else. An electronic PRO (ePRO) refers to PRO data that is collected electronically, for example, using a smartphone or other digital technology.
\nis a tool used to measure a patient-reported outcome (PRO). Typically, PROMs are validated (i.e., have evidence of their measurement properties), self-report questionnaires. The purpose of a PROM is to better understand how a treatment is affecting a person from their perspective.\u00a0 Increasingly, PROMs are being included in clinical trials to better understand how patients perceive the benefit of a new treatment. PROMs are also being used more and more in routine care to support decision-making around treatment, inform conversations between patients and healthcare professionals, for patient monitoring, and to evaluate how well a treatment is working for an individual from their perspective.
\nA peptide is a short chain of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. Think of it like a tiny string of beads, where each bead is an amino acid, and together they help your body perform important functions like signalling and building tissues.
\nare the most frequent type of genetic variation among people. Each SNP represents a difference in a nucleotide, which is a single DNA building block. For example, an SNP may replace the nucleotide cytosine (C) with the nucleotide thymine (T) in a certain stretch of DNA. Just as changes in the letters of a word can alter its meaning, these genetic changes can alter the instructions given by the DNA in cells.
\nThese are white blood cells with important roles in the immune system. They are involved in eradicating and providing long-term protection against infections and cancer (and also have the potential to damage healthy tissues in the body if not targeted and regulated appropriately). Cytotoxic T-cells kill cells that are infected (e.g. with viruses) or have become tumour cells. They can sometimes also \u201ccure\u201d cells of infection without destroying them. Most cytotoxic T-cells express the marker CD8, but some CD4+ T-cells also have cytotoxic activity.
\r\nare special proteins on the surface of T-cells.\u00a0 The T-cells use them to recognise cells that are foreign, for example, a cell infected by a virus or a cancerous cell. Each T-cell receptor recognises a specific fragment (peptide) of a protein displayed as a flag on cell-surface \u201cflagpole\u201d proteins called HLA molecules. So if a cell is infected with a virus or a cancer cell expresses proteins abnormally, \u201cflags\u201d of viral/abnormal proteins will be displayed to T-cells and targeted by those T-cells which have TCRs that recognise these peptide-HLA complexes. Within the body, many T-cells express different receptors \u2013 this helps to ensure that there are always some T-cells available to recognise and respond to any new threat that is encountered.\u00a0
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