Is Immunotherapy the Cure For Cancer?

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tues., Nov 1, at a National Press Club Newsmaker news conference, Dr. Gary Gilliland president of Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch), will discuss how immunotherapy is showing promise as a cure for many cancers that up to now has eluded doctors and patients. Gilliland, joined by Dr. David Maloney an immunotherapy researcher and physician, will announce the first-of-its-kind immunotherapy treatment center in a new dedicated research-focused clinic to be housed at Fred Hutch. The doctors also will call for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expedite procedures to make immunotherapy drugs more readily available to patients. The news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the club's Zenger Room.

Immunotherapy refers to treatments that harness the body's own immune system to fight cancer. This is vastly different from the primary existing treatments of radiation and chemotherapy that are highly toxic "search and destroy" efforts that often have a very negative effect on a patient's quality of life while undergoing treatments. By contrast, immunotherapy so far has allowed patients to be successfully treated without similar side effects.

Dr. Gary Gilliland, a physician-scientist, is an expert in cancer genetics and precision medicine holds a Ph.D. in microbiology and a medical doctorate and was professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University.

Dr. David Maloney, an immunotherapy researcher and physician, has played an instrumental role in the two of the biggest breakthroughs in cancer therapy: the development and testing of Rituximab -- the first targeted antibody-based therapy for cancer -- and today's emerging T-cell therapies.

The National Press Club located on the 13th Floor of the National Press Building, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C.  This event is open to credentialed media and NPC members, free of charge. No advance registration is required. 

Contact: Jamie Horwitz, Newsmaker Chair at 202/549-4921, [email protected]

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SOURCE National Press Club

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