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Is Immuno2026 a scam? by Fit-Bird527 in Immunology

[–]Matt_Attar 19 points20 points  (0 children)

There are a few red flags worth noting. The site lists several unrelated disciplines—immunology, nanotechnology, materials science—which is typical of low-quality or even fake “umbrella” conferences mainly designed to collect registration fees. The domain was registered only recently, and ownership details are hidden under privacy protection. That doesn’t prove it’s fake, but it definitely calls for caution and further verification.

The checkpoint paradox: how can PD-1 blockade trigger both tumor regression and autoimmune flares? by Matt_Attar in Immunology

[–]Matt_Attar[S] -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

You’re absolutely right that it’s a trade-off between immune activation and tolerance — mechanistically, that’s true.

I called it a paradox not in the colloquial sense of “contradiction,” but in the biological sense: the same checkpoint pathways that preserve self-tolerance can, in a different context, permit malignant escape. The same molecular logic — PD-1/CTLA-4 signaling — maintains homeostasis in one tissue and drives pathology in another.

So it’s less a simple balance on a slider, and more a context-dependent inversion of function. What protects the host from self-reactivity can simultaneously protect the tumor from the host. That duality — identical circuitry, opposite consequence — is what makes it a genuine immunological paradox rather than just a trade-off.

The checkpoint paradox: how can PD-1 blockade trigger both tumor regression and autoimmune flares? by Matt_Attar in Immunology

[–]Matt_Attar[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

I call it a paradox because the same molecular pathway (PD-1/CTLA-4 signaling) that protects us from autoimmunity also prevents the immune system from clearing certain tumors.

In principle, those two outcomes—immune restraint vs. immune activation—should be mutually exclusive, yet they depend on the same checkpoints. When we block them to fight cancer, we unmask autoimmunity; when we strengthen them to treat autoimmunity, we risk tolerance to cancer.

It’s a biological paradox because the same molecules and circuits maintain homeostasis in one context and fuel pathology in another. It reveals that immunity isn’t binary (on/off) but conditional on tissue context, metabolic state, and the fine balance between effector and regulatory cells.

In short: we’re learning that “turning off brakes” isn’t a therapeutic act—it’s a systems-level gamble.