The Hopes of Countless Millions
INNOVATORS
These organizations and people all have an urge to help people and wants to unlock the mysteries to the field of cancer immunotherapy.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
The purpose of this institute is to support any research
that will contribute to cancer immunotherapy. NCI has funded
to a research where it discovers two biomarkers: PD-L1 and a
“genetic feature called microsatellite instability.” The research
found that if patients receive a , they
will have a higher chance of responding to the treatment if they
have the two biomarkers.
The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
This foundation was created by Eli Broad and Edythe
Broad who both desire to improve advancements in
education, science, and arts by funding to those in need.
One of their fundings went to Rong Lu and Qi-Long Ying
at Keck School of Medicine of USC. They received around
$120,000. The two are researching whether
granulocyte/macrophage progenitors (GMPs) has the
ability to defend the body from foreign invaders or not.
Furthermore, they will contribute to the field of cancer
immunotherapy by attempting to utilize GMPs to target
cancer cells by genetically modifying GMPs.
Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium (CIC)
It is a program of the Cancer Research Institute that consists of numerous “pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and academic institutions.” They all have similar goals on improving the field of cancer immunotherapy. The different companies and institutions all cooperate, work together, and share ideas to find developments and solutions regarding immunotherapy.
Sean Parker
He is an entrepreneur and the president of Facebook. He is
the founder of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
and contributed $250 million to improve immunotherapy
research. The institute will cooperate with different
organizations and researchers to discover findings about
immunotherapy.
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have made several
discoveries regarding cancer immunotherapy. One of
them was a discovery about how certain proteins are
used by “melanoma cells” to prevent the immune
system from destroying it. The studies show that the
protein, PD-L1, can “be used as a target for new
therapies.”
They also led trials where a type of drug that can
fight against cancer cells called Opdivo was tested.
The results were positive, and the drug was approved
by the FDA in 2014.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
It approved many drugs/therapies used in cancer
immunotherapy. One of the drugs approved was Avelumab
(Bavencio). It was approved when Tom Judd, a cancer
patient of Merkel cell carcinoma, was treated using the
drug and about 90% of his tumors went away. With the help
of FDA approval, a treatment’s results would be more
promising and positive, since when FDA approves a drug, it
ensures that the positives exceed the negatives.
Thomas F. Gajewski, M.D., Ph.D.
We gain a better insight of how an immune response works when
cancer exists. Gajewski showed us the correlation of the
microbiome and the immune system. He found
that some of the mice's bacteria in the digestive tracts are capable
of defending the body from cancer cells. In addition, his lab
demonstrated that the STING (Simulator of Interferon Genes) pathway
can communicate with the non-specific immune system to protect the
body against cancer cells. Because of his contributions to the
field of cancer immunotherapy, he earned the 2017 William B. Coley
Award for Distinguished Research in Tumor Immunology.