June Is Cancer Immunotherapy Month

June 16, 2015 by

As explained in a previous blog post, cancer immunotherapy refers to treatments that can unleash the power of a patient’s immune system to fight his or her cancer. Decades of research have provided us with immense scientific insight into the immune system and how it interacts with cancer cells. This is what is allowing researchers to design increasing numbers of anticancer therapies that harness the immune system in different ways. It is also what is underpinning the groundswell of clinical trials testing cancer immunotherapies that we have seen in the past few years.

This is an area of research that is making progress for many patients, and that holds a great deal of promise for many more.

In recognition of June as Cancer Immunotherapy Month, organized by our colleagues at the Cancer Research Institute (CRI), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has compiled the following resources.

Informing the public

  • The AACR’s blog posts on immunotherapy cover many different aspects of the field, including recent FDA approvals.

Sharing the latest research

  • Cancer Immunology Research, one of the AACR’s eight scientific journals, publishes original articles reporting major advances in cancer immunology. In collaboration with CRI, content from CRI’s journal Cancer Immunity is now integrated into the Cancer Immunology Research archives.
  • Cancer Immunology Essentials, an online educational resource from the AACR for students, researchers, physicians, and clinicians working in the field of cancer research who wish to learn more about the rapidly-evolving fields of cancer immunology and immunotherapy, is freely available through June 30, 2015.

Facilitating collaboration

  • CRI, the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT), the European Academy of Tumor Immunology (EATI), and the AACR are proud to join forces to sponsor the first International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference in New York, September 16-19, 2015. The advance registration deadline is July 27, 2015.
  • The AACR’s Cancer Immunology Working Group seeks to provide a forum for immunologists and non-immunologists alike to meet, exchange knowledge and ideas, and discuss the present status and future promise of this important discipline.

For other ways to get involved during Cancer Immunotherapy Month, visit www.cancerresearch.org/june, where you’ll find resources from CRI such as:

  • Breakthroughs in Cancer Immunotherapy, a free webinar series;
  • Immunotherapy: 5 Ways to Stop Cancer, a suite of five videos that explain the basics of immune-based approaches to cancer treatment; and
  • Stories from patients who tell us in their own words how they have benefited from advances in cancer immunotherapy research and treatment.