It’s well-known that a person’s immune system wears down over time, becoming less effective as folks progress through middle age and become seniors.

But that doesn’t appear to hinder the effectiveness of immunotherapy for cancer in seniors, a new study says.

Seniors with cancer respond just as well as younger patients to immune checkpoint inhibitors — drugs that take the brakes off the immune system so it can target and kill cancer cells more effectively, researchers reported Monday in the journal Nature Communications.