Monterey, CA Cancer Victims Using Their Own Immune System As A Powerful Defense Mechanism

There was an inspiring story in the Wall Street Journal about a man who got cancer on his small intestines which spread to his liver and kidneys.  Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center told him he was finished.  With Stage 4 Melanoma he would likely be alive for only a year.  Nine years later he is in good health thanks to an experimental immunotherapy drug which was novel at the time.  These drugs, however, which use your own body’s immune system to attack the cancer, are becoming increasingly common.  Called Super-Survivors, these cancer victims are treading into new territory and bringing the research community together.  “It’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen,” David Lane, scientific director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer, told The Wall Street Journal.  “It’s the long-term survival of people who have advanced disease, that’s very unusual,” he said.  I think this is a great area for potential research.  Our own bodies are often under attack from outside sources, but can also be our best defense.