Happy New Year! 2016 is off to a great start. The public’s awareness of cancer immunotherapy is elevated, with some high-profile media coverage of former president Jimmy Carter’s recent announcement that he is free of cancer thanks to immunotherapy.
An article by Business Insider, published December 31, describes Carter’s success receiving treatment with immunotherapy, and uses this as a springboard for telling a larger story about the history of the cancer immunotherapy field. The article links today’s breakthrough treatments to the work of William B. Coley, MD, a late-19th century surgeon. His lifetime study of an immunotherapy he invented, called Coley’s Toxins, eventually prompted his daughter Helen to cofound the Cancer Research Institute in 1953. The article gives CRI due credit for “sticking with it” when others had given up on immunotherapy.
The history of immunotherapy—and its progress today—is deeply entwined with the history and ongoing work of the Cancer Research Institute. Jimmy Carter’s results demonstrate the potential of immunotherapy, and all of us at the Cancer Research Institute will continue to advance this promising field of research until every cancer patient stands to benefit from immune-based treatments.
Check out the article on the Business Insider website, and please share the news with your friends and family.
