The Immune System and Cancer Vaccines
One way our immune system protects us is by ridding our bodies of altered cells that could lead to cancer. But exactly how and when does our immune system sense cancer? How do tumors evolve to avoid being detected? And how can a better understanding of this process help develop better cancer treatments?
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) computational biologist Benjamin Greenbaum, PhD, is looking for answers to these important questions. He is the co-director of Neoantigen Discovery for The Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at MSK, a hub for cancer vaccine discovery and innovation. The center’s computational efforts, which have also received funding from The Tow Foundation and are led by Dr. Greenbaum, are essential to designing effective cancer vaccines.
Inspiring Journey: Living Strong with Stage 4 Lung Cancer
It was a hot, humid night in 2010 when Giancarlo Oviedo-Mori and his parents sat in a Bronx hospital and received the shock of their lives. They learned that he had advanced non-small cell lung cancer. He was only 18 years old and had big dreams. “Every South American kid wants to be a professional soccer player. I wanted to be the next Messi,” remembers Giancarlo, who immigrated to the United States with his family from Peru when he was 8 years old.
“I had never seen my parents cry like that before. It really broke me,” says Giancarlo, who has no family history of cancer and never smoked. “There was no logical reason why I got lung cancer, but I didn’t question it. I just trusted God and had this peace that everything was going to be OK.”
Fifteen years later, Giancarlo is now married and has a 2-year-old son as he continues to live with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer. Over the years, the cancer has remained persistent, but each time one treatment stopped working, there has been a new drug to try, thanks to clinical trials at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) where he is now being treated.
The Latest Advances in Lung Cancer Treatment
In the article “The Latest Advances in Lung Cancer Treatment,” Abe Rosenberg highlights groundbreaking developments at City of Hope that are transforming the prognosis for lung cancer patients. Dr. Ravi Salgia, a leading oncologist at the institution, emphasizes a shift towards curative approaches even for advanced stages of the disease. The piece delves into innovative treatments such as targeted therapies that hone in on specific genetic mutations, immunotherapies that empower the immune system to combat cancer cells, and refined chemotherapy techniques that minimize harm to healthy tissue. These advancements collectively signify a new era in lung cancer care, offering renewed hope to patients and clinicians alike.
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