"The Benihana Of Cancer Vaccines: How Are Medical Oncologists Advancing Immunotherapy?" - Stephanie Baum
In a keynote presentation at the MedCity CONVERGE conference, Joshua Brody, MD, assistant professor of medicine, hematology and medical oncology, and director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, talked about some of the hype and hope of CAR-T and checkpoint blockade immunotherapy treatments. Dr. Brody also highlighted some of the work his lab is doing, using wry metaphors to make his points. Dr. Brody noted that with CAR-T cells, clinicians give the immune cells specific instructions of which targets the immune system should go after and how to do it. He contrasted this approach with checkpoint blockade and cancer vaccines, in which oncologists merely facilitate the individual’s immune system to fight cancer. He likened the difference in the two approached to giving a woman a fish and teaching a woman how to fish.
- Joshua Brody, MD, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, Director, Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai