For the first time, a patient’s late-stage breast cancer has been successfully treated with T-cell immunotherapy. This cutting-edge approach, which is currently in clinical trials in the U.S., modified the patient’s naturally-occurring immune cells to fight her tumours that had spread throughout her body. The patient has been cancer free for the past two years and her remarkable tumour regression represents the potential impact of this new immunotherapeutic approach.

OICR’s President and Scientific Director, Dr. Laszlo Radvanyi says this breakthrough therapy is “an unprecedented response in such advanced breast cancer.”

Radvanyi’s review of this unique case was published early this month in Nature News & Views where he noted that cancer treatment is entering a new era where it is finally becoming possible to target the multiple mutations involved in cancer using immunotherapy. His expert opinion has been featured in articles from the Guardian, NBC News and the Scientist.

Those interested in accessing this clinical trial or others, or are interested in immunotherapy, should speak to their oncologist. OICR is a research organization and cannot provide medical advice or treatment.