Posts by tag
cancer research
“Between the Checkpoints of Life, Take the Immunobuddies with You” —Professor Ricky Dylan Frazer
The conversation starts with a small detail that quickly becomes memorable. There is no coffee. On a podcast built around conversations over coffee, Professor Ricky Dylan Frazer, Consultant Medical Oncologist at Velindre Cancer Centre, Deputy CEO of the Immuno-Oncology Clinical…
Charles Balch Treated Thousands of Patients. He Says That’s Not His Greatest Work.
If you try to list everything Charles Balch has done, you quickly realize the list does not help you understand the man. He has led some of the most important institutions in oncology. He has built systems that are now…
CancerWorld #115 (May 2026)
In oncology, progress is measured in survival rates, response curves, and treatment gains. But those numbers rest on a quieter assumption: that health systems can deliver what science makes possible. When they cannot, progress becomes uneven—not in discovery, but in…
CancerWorld | The Max Foundation – Special Issue 2026
25 Years of TKIs in CML: A Revolution and a Responsibility Twenty-five years ago, the arrival of imatinib changed the course of a disease and the lives of countless people diagnosed with it. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), once defined by…
“Medicine is Deeply Relational: The Human Heart of Oncology in the Age of AI”
From genetics to palliative care, clinician-scientist Rita Canário reflects on building a career in Oncology that bridges research, patient care, and the human side of medicine and why this integration is essential for the future of oncology. “I was never…
CancerWorld #114 (April 2026)
In oncology, we are trained to deliver hope alongside difficult truths. We speak about survival rates, probabilities, and outcomes. In conflict settings, those terms lose stability. What does survival mean when hospitals are destroyed, treatments cannot reach patients, and people…
The Day Immunotherapy Went Off-Patent
In oncology, some milestones arrive with applause. Others arrive quietly. This year, one of the most important cancer drugs of the modern era begins to lose its monopoly. Nivolumab, one of the first PD-1 inhibitors to reach patients, is set…
Karen Knudsen: The Scientist Who Refused to Move Slowly
“I’m a scientist first and foremost. I don’t remember a time not thinking about being a scientist.” What Karen Knudsen, the CEO of Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, remembers clearly is the pull not toward prestige or power, but toward…
CancerWorld #113 (March 2026)
Scientific discovery drives oncology forward, but progress only truly begins when knowledge is turned into action. Every issue of CancerWorld explores the people, ideas, and systems shaping the future of oncology. Scientific breakthroughs remain essential, but their true value emerges…
Rethinking Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer: A Universal Approach
Chimeric antigen receptor natural killer T (CAR-NKT) cell therapy, a novel form of immunotherapy, is emerging as a promising ‘off-the-shelf’ treatment for patients with pancreatic cancer. In a study published in PNAS, November 21, 2025, U.S. investigators report that CAR-NKT cells…