Posts by tag
immunotherapy
Immunotherapy’s Hidden Burden: Rethinking Toxicity in the Era of Breakthroughs
Immunotherapy has redefined cancer care—offering survival where little once existed, and in some cases, the possibility of long-term remission. But as its use expands across tumor types and earlier lines of treatment, a more complex reality is coming into focus:…
“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 #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…
From Dalian to Houston and Back to Yemen: Bridging the Global Oncology Divide
A Global Summit, a Personal Reckoning At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Leadership Summit in Singapore, discussions moved rapidly from antibody–drug conjugates to next-generation sequencing and the expanding role of immunotherapy. Clinical trial curves filled large screens, and…
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…