Immuno therapy was once the black sheep of cancer research. Originally conceived over a century ago, it aims to stimulate a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. That’s a very different approach than chemotherapy, which essentially poisons tumors.
Early trials of immunotherapy in the 1900s and a second round of experiments in the 1980s caused toxic side effects. That led oncologists to dismiss this approach– until 2011, when a new immunotherapy treatment gave patients with metastatic melanoma years of tumor-free extra life.
By 2013, Science magazine had named immunotherapy the “breakthrough of the year” and immunotherapy became the cancer community’s great hope for a cure.In 2017, California’s Gilead Sciences paid a stunning $11.9 billion to acquire Kite Pharma, which commercialized an Israeli-developed immunotherapy treatment called CAR-T.
And yet, for all its promise, immunotherapy is still in its early days. Only a small number of patients suffering from a few specific cancer types are responding positively so far.
Israeli scientist Rony Dahan thinks he knows why. And he’s set out to do something about it. -- More....
ISRAEL21c was founded in 2001, in the wake of the Second Intifada, to broaden public understanding of Israel beyond typical portrayals in the mainstream media.
The organization’s founders – Israeli-American technology executives – understood the great power of the Internet and developed a first-of-its kind online product with global appeal and reach.