Critical Developments in Cancer Immunotherapy


Book Description

Cancer still poses a significant challenge in healthcare since traditional treatments often fail to produce desired results and patient outcomes. Conventional therapies, like chemotherapy and radiation, can have substantial side effects and may not always be able to eliminate cancer cells. Moreover, the heterogeneity of tumors and individual responses to treatment create barriers to achieving consistent and long-lasting outcomes. Critical Developments in Cancer Immunotherapy offers a compelling solution to these challenges by delving into the cutting-edge field of cancer immunotherapy. This book provides a comprehensive guide to the latest advancements in harnessing the body's immune system to fight cancer. Focusing on critical strategies like checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T-cell therapy, the book provides insights into novel approaches that offer greater precision and effectiveness in cancer treatment.




Critical Developments in Cancer Immunotherapy


Book Description

Cancer still poses a significant challenge in healthcare since traditional treatments often fail to produce desired results and patient outcomes. Conventional therapies, like chemotherapy and radiation, can have substantial side effects and may not always be able to eliminate cancer cells. Moreover, the heterogeneity of tumors and individual responses to treatment create barriers to achieving consistent and long-lasting outcomes. Critical Developments in Cancer Immunotherapy offers a compelling solution to these challenges by delving into the cutting-edge field of cancer immunotherapy. This book provides a comprehensive guide to the latest advancements in harnessing the body's immune system to fight cancer. Focusing on critical strategies like checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T-cell therapy, the book provides insights into novel approaches that offer greater precision and effectiveness in cancer treatment. Ideal for a diverse audience, including students, researchers, and healthcare professionals, this book bridges complex scientific concepts with accessible language. It aims to enhance understanding of how the immune system can be leveraged to combat cancer. More importantly, it serves as a catalyst for further innovation and application in this dynamic field. Critical Developments in Cancer Immunotherapy is not just a book; it is a beacon of hope and knowledge, illuminating the path to more effective and personalized cancer treatments.




Policy Issues in the Clinical Development and Use of Immunotherapy for Cancer Treatment


Book Description

Immunotherapy is a form of cancer therapy that harnesses the body's immune system to destroy cancer cells. In recent years, immunotherapies have been developed for several cancers, including advanced melanoma, lung cancer, and kidney cancer. In some patients with metastatic cancers who have not responded well to other treatments, immunotherapy treatment has resulted in complete and durable responses. Given these promising findings, it is hoped that continued immunotherapy research and development will produce better cancer treatments that improve patient outcomes. With this promise, however, there is also recognition that the clinical and biological landscape for immunotherapies is novel and not yet well understood. For example, adverse events with immunotherapy treatment are quite different from those experienced with other types of cancer therapy. Similarly, immunotherapy dosing, therapeutic responses, and response time lines are also markedly different from other cancer therapies. To examine these challenges and explore strategies to overcome them, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop in February and March of 2016. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.




Cancer Immunotherapy Principles and Practice


Book Description

Part 1: Intratumoral Signatures Associated With Immune Responsiveness




Immunotherapy in Translational Cancer Research


Book Description

A guide to state-of-the-art cancer immunotherapy in translational cancer research A volume in the Translational Oncology series, Immunotherapy in Translational Cancer Research explores the recent developments in the role that immunotherapy plays in the treatment of a wide range of cancers. The editors present key concepts, illustrative examples, and suggest alternative strategies in order to achieve individualized targeted therapy. Comprehensive in scope, Immunotherapy in Translational Cancer Research reviews the relevant history, current state, and the future of burgeoning cancer-fighting therapies. The book also includes critical information on drug development, clinical trials, and governmental resources and regulatory issues. Each chapter is created to feature: development of the immunotherapy; challenges that have been overcome in order to scale up and undertake clinical trials; and clinical experience and application of research. This authoritative volume is edited by a team of noted experts from MD Anderson Cancer Center, the world’s foremost cancer research and care center and: Offers a comprehensive presentation of state-of-the-art cancer immunotherapy research that accelerates the pace of clinical cancer care Filled with the concepts, examples, and approaches for developing individualized therapy Explores the breath of treatments that reflect the complexity of the immune system itself Includes contributions from a panel international experts in the field of immunotherapy Designed for physicians, medical students, scientists, pharmaceutical executives, public health and public policy government leaders and community oncologists, this essential resource offers a guide to the bidirectional interaction between laboratory and clinic immunotherapy cancer research.




The Breakthrough


Book Description

Follow along as this New York Times bestselling author details the astonishing scientific discovery of the code to unleashing the human immune system to fight in this "captivating and heartbreaking" book (The Wall Street Journal). For decades, scientists have puzzled over one of medicine's most confounding mysteries: Why doesn't our immune system recognize and fight cancer the way it does other diseases, like the common cold? As it turns out, the answer to that question can be traced to a series of tricks that cancer has developed to turn off normal immune responses -- tricks that scientists have only recently discovered and learned to defeat. The result is what many are calling cancer's "penicillin moment," a revolutionary discovery in our understanding of cancer and how to beat it. In The Breakthrough, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Nurse Charles Graeber guides readers through the revolutionary scientific research bringing immunotherapy out of the realm of the miraculous and into the forefront of twenty-first-century medical science. As advances in the fields of cancer research and the human immune system continue to fuel a therapeutic arms race among biotech and pharmaceutical research centers around the world, the next step -- harnessing the wealth of new information to create modern and more effective patient therapies -- is unfolding at an unprecedented pace, rapidly redefining our relationship with this all-too-human disease. Groundbreaking, riveting, and expertly told, The Breakthrough is the story of the game-changing scientific discoveries that unleash our natural ability to recognize and defeat cancer, as told through the experiences of the patients, physicians, and cancer immunotherapy researchers who are on the front lines. This is the incredible true story of the race to find a cure, a dispatch from the life-changing world of modern oncological science, and a brave new chapter in medical history.




Translational Immunotherapy of Brain Tumors


Book Description

Translational Immunotherapy of Brain Tumors gives researchers and practitioners an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the field. Chapters include adoptive immunotherapy, immunosuppression, CAR therapy of brain tumors, and dendritic cell therapy for brain tumors. Very few agents have been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of malignant gliomas. Recently, there have been a number of studies demonstrating the potential success of immunotherapy for brain tumors. Immunotherapeutics are becoming the most frequent drugs to be used in cancer therapy. These new breakthroughs, now approved by the FDA, are a part of multiple phase III international trials and ongoing research in malignant glioma, meaning that the information in this cutting-edge book will be of great importance to practitioners and researchers alike. 2018 BMA Medical Book Awards Highly Commended in Oncology - Comprehensive overview, providing an update on immunology, translational immunotherapy, and clinical trials relating to malignant gliomas - Edited by a prominent neurosurgeon with contributions by leading researchers in the field - Ideal resource for researchers and practitioners interested in learning about mechanisms that use the immune system to treat brain tumors




Handbook of Brain Tumor Chemotherapy, Molecular Therapeutics, and Immunotherapy


Book Description

Handbook of Brain Tumor Chemotherapy, Molecular Therapeutics, and Immunotherapy, Second Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of the molecular methodologies in the neuro-oncology field. There have been profound changes in the landscape of approaches to brain tumor therapy since the first edition—mainly in the areas of molecular biology and molecular therapeutics, as well as in the maturation of immunotherapy approaches (e.g., vaccines). This updated edition has a new, primary focus on multidisciplinary molecular methods, and is broadened to include the latest cutting-edge molecular biology, therapeutics, immunobiology and immunotherapy approaches. As the first comprehensive book to address the molecular research into these concepts, users will find it to be an invaluable resource on the topics discussed. - Provides the most up-to-date information regarding conventional forms of cytotoxic chemotherapy, as well as the basic science and clinical application of molecular therapeutics for the treatment of brain tumors - Broadly appeals to anyone interested in neuro-oncology and the treatment of brain tumors - Features updated chapters on molecular biology, molecular therapeutics, maturation of immunotherapy approaches, and a focus on multidisciplinary molecular methods - Includes a new section on the basic science of immunology, as well as thorough updates on the use of vaccine technology and immunotherapy for the treatment of brain tumors




The Basics of Cancer Immunotherapy


Book Description

This book provides patients and their physicians (especially “non-oncologist” health care providers) with a clear and concise introduction to cancer immunotherapy, which, unlike traditional forms of cancer therapy, acts by boosting the patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. The unique features of cancer immunotherapy make its management, monitoring and side-effects different from those of traditional cancer therapy. Especially novel are the side effects of cancer immunotherapy, necessitating greater awareness for both patients and physicians in order to minimize complications of therapy. The patient-friendly, concise, easy-to-understand, and up-to-date knowledge presented in this book will inform patients about the benefits and risks of cancer immunotherapy, and help them and their care providers to understand how immunotherapy would control their unique disease. Researchers and academic professionals in the field of cancer immunotherapy will also find clear and useful information to help them communicate with patients or address unresolved problems. Some key features of the book are: Expertise. All editors and authors are scientists and oncologists specializing in cancer immunotherapy, and are involved in scientific discovery from the early stage of immune-checkpoint inhibitors to today’s daily patient care. Their insights, expertise and experience guarantee the high quality and authority in the science, medicine and practice of cancer immunotherapy. Patient-friendly. This book is written for cancer patients in order to meet their needs when considering immunotherapy. As an educational tool, this book will help the reader balance the risks and benefits based on both science and clinical facts, and therefore to make the best choice in receiving or withdrawing from immunotherapy. Disease Specificity. Cancer is a complicated disease involving multiple stages and pathology. Its response to immunotherapy is individualized and varies depending on cancer types. The authors’ expertise in treating different types of cancers, including melanoma, lung, kidney, bladder, and lymphoma, provides disease-specific insights in applying immunotherapy to each disease.




Immunotherapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma


Book Description

In this book we provide insights into liver – cancer and immunology. Experts in the field provide an overview over fundamental immunological questions in liver cancer and tumorimmunology, which form the base for immune based approaches in HCC, which gain increasing interest in the community due to first promising results obtained in early clinical trials. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer related death in the United States. Treatment options are limited. Viral hepatitis is one of the major risk factors for HCC, which represents a typical “inflammation-induced” cancer. Immune-based treatment approaches have revolutionized oncology in recent years. Various treatment strategies have received FDA approval including dendritic cell vaccination, for prostate cancer as well as immune checkpoint inhibition targeting the CTLA4 or the PD1/PDL1 axis in melanoma, lung, and kidney cancer. Additionally, cell based therapies (adoptive T cell therapy, CAR T cells and TCR transduced T cells) have demonstrated significant efficacy in patients with B cell malignancies and melanoma. Immune checkpoint inhibitors in particular have generated enormous excitement across the entire field of oncology, providing a significant benefit to a minority of patients.