Curing Cancer from Within: The Prospect and Promise of Immunotherapy
It’s been more than 150 years since doctors first diagnosed blood cancers, and for most of that time, there was no effective treatment or cure. Chemotherapy led to advances and gave many patients longer life and improved health, but for many, leukemia and lymphoma remained among the hardest cancers to treat. Thanks to advances in immunology and an ever-improving understanding of genomics and proteomics – the role genes and proteins play in disease and its progression – scientists and clinicians are able to identify unique markers present on blood cancers and modify healthy cells from our own immune system to find and destroy them. Hear from Dr. Komanduri about where the science is headed, and the remarkable breakthroughs in cancer treatment that will shape the future of care.
Dr. Komanduri’s laboratory research is focused on studies of cancer immunology and has been widely published and supported by the NIH and cancer-related foundations. Dr. Komanduri is the current President of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT), and serves as Co-Chair of the CIBMTR Working Committee on Infections and Immune Reconstitution. He is the immediate past-chair of the NMDP Advisory Group on Financial Barriers to Transplantation, a physician/payer/advocacy task force on transplant financial issues. Dr. Kumanduri has also served as Chair of the Immunology and Host Defense Scientific Committee for the American Society of Hematology. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Prior to coming to Miami, he was a faculty member at UCSF and at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
