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This Cancer Breakthrough Has Scientists Cheering-and Crying
The Bulwark • • health
Key Points:
- Fifteen years ago, oncology researcher Catherine Wu and her team at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute hypothesized that identifying genetic mutations in tumors could help train the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells.
- Their idea centered on creating personalized cancer vaccines tailored to target protein fragments associated with tumor mutations, aiming to attack existing cancers and prevent recurrence.
- At the time, this concept was unproven and required significant further research and discoveries to become a viable treatment.
- Wu and her collaborators sought a $363,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, hoping for federal support to explore their longshot but potentially groundbreaking cancer biology insights.
