Immunotherapy Month…and Much More

Original source here.

More than a decade ago, the Cancer Research Institute declared June Immunotherapy Month. The idea was to raise awareness about the state of cancer immunotherapy, which a decade ago was not widely known but which is now arguably the most exciting area of cancer research.

Appropriately, there was a strong presence of immunotherapy experts at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting earlier this month in Chicago. There was much to celebrate, including the work of OncoHost, a leader that is moving forward by finding the best immunotherapies for complex cancers.

To avoid unnecessary treatment, delays in administration, adverse reactions and/or unnecessary costs, it is important to identify, in advance, patients who will respond to their proposed treatment plan. For some treatments, biomarkers can help predict whether the patient will respond or not. But strong biomarkers are lacking for many cancer therapies, specifically for immunotherapy.

OncoHost’s mission is to overcome this issue. The technology company’s proprietary platform, PRophet^®, is a plasma-based proteomic pattern recognition tool that combines system biology, bioinformatics, and machine learning to support clinical decision-making.

This week we also have a new story about the value of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in cancer treatment. Scientists at the University of Oxford in the UK are working to develop personalized cancer treatments which could be far more effective at preventing patient recurrence.

And please take a look at our piece on the changing situation for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs). For decades, the oncology community has given relatively short shrift to teens and young adults with cancer. The most obvious reasons are the lower number of cancers in these age groups, and the difficulties researchers have had trying to find effective treatments for this age group.

But as our writer Ingrid Cruz points out, the number of AYAs that are getting cancer is on the rise. And far more resources are now thankfully available.

There is still a long, long way to go. But the world is now thankfully aware that cancer doesn’t just harm young children and older adults. The in-between generation is finally, thankfully being heard.