INNOVATORS

Innovators in Cancer Immunotherapy

Over the course of the years, scientists have tried to find a cure for cancer. Although scientists have not found a cure to the disease, the science world is still pushing to find new treatments and technology to finding a cure. Contributors to cancer immunotherapy is University of Pennsylvania (Penn Medicine), University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland, The Parker Institute for Immunotherapy, and Cancer Research Institute. Companies have also contributed like TappImmune Inc. and Juno Therapeutics Inc. Not to mention Dr. Steven Rosenberg from the National Institute of Health and co-founder of Facebook, Sean Parker.

Penn medicine is said to be leading the world in immunotherapy research. Researchers and scientists are reprogramming the body's own immune cells to attack every last cancer cell. Bill Ludwig, who has lived with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, had gone through a successful clinical trial using CAR-T cell immunotherapy. This immunotherapy was later approved by the FDA.

Researchers at The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center are finding new ways to advance immunotherapy. At this cancer center, types of immunotherapy include: Monoclonal Antibodies, Non- specific Immunotherapies, Cancer Vaccines, and Oncolytic virus Therapy. Researchers at The University of Michigan and other biomedical scientists are supported by the Immune Monitoring Shared Resource team.

At the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Center, there is a program dedicated to understanding immune regulation, preventing, and treating disease. This programhas developed strategies that are used to promote innovative research and create new therapeutic treatments. Their overall goal of the program is to develop strategies to treat, prevents, and/or monitor disease, like cancer, and its progression.

TapImmune is a company that is currently developing different types of immunotherapies that target tumors and metastatic diseases. They have engineered technology to overcome early stages of cancer vaccines and possibly be a powerful use on its own. At the moment, they are advancing two clinical stage T-cell vaccines used to treat breast and ovarian cancers. Their vaccines are used to boost the immune system, destroy cancer cells, and is claimed to work with 80% of the population.

Sean Parker

Co-founder of Facebook

Facebook co-founder Sean Parker has donated $250 million in cancer immunotherapy research to six cancer centers, including Manhattan's Memorial Sloan Kettering and Stanford. His donation is the largest in cancer immunotherapy and one of the largest in cancer research. He believes cancer immunotherapy could change lives and benefit from research that is done.

April 13, 2016

Dr. Steven Rosenberg

NIH: Chief of Surgery Branch

Former Chief of Surgery from the National Cancer Institute Dr. Steve Rosenberg is the first to show that immunotherapy is able to use the body's immune system to destroy cancer cells. His discovery is also the first to show successful treatment of a patient with lymphoma. He believes that immunotherapy could be the most effective for patients with advanced diseases.

CANCER

IMMUNOTHERAPY