Page 10 - Cancer Update Spring 2019 Vol. 8 Issue 1

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Feature Article
BAYLOR CHARLES A. SAMMONS CANCER CENTER AND BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
INNOVATIVE IMMUNO- ONCOLOGY CLINICAL TRIAL USING NATURAL KILLER CELLS
Immunotherapy has revolutionized the fight against cancer. Unlike traditional pharmaceuticals, immunotherapeutics harness the innate cell-killing power of the immune system to remove tumors. Researchers at Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center, located on the campus of Baylor University Medical Center (Baylor Dallas), part of Baylor Scott & White Health, and conducted through the Baylor Scott & White Research Institute and Fate Therapeutics, are testing a novel immunotherapy for difficult-to-treat solid tumors.
For many years, researchers suspected that it could be possible for the immune system to do the work in fighting cancer. However, cancers release factors that suppress the immune system. Once scientists began to discover how the tumor cells interact with the immune system, it became possible to design therapies that wake up the immune system and allow it to recognize and kill the cancer.
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