Israeli scientist Rony Dahan thinks he knows why immunotherapy hasn’t reached its full potential, and he aims to do something about that
Coaxing the immune system to fight cancer
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. --
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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.
