Immuno‐oncology at Ohio State

[Text on screen: The James
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center]

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[Text on screen: Raphael Pollock, MD, PhD, FACS
Director, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center]

Raphael Pollock, MD, PhD, FACS:
Many of us on the national level appreciate that immunotherapeutics are going to ultimately develop and emerge as a fourth standard form of treatment for cancer, along with surgery, radiation therapy, and systemic treatments, such as targeted and untargeted chemotherapy.

[Text on screen: Zihai Li, MD, PhD
Professor and Founding Director
Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology]

Zihai Li, MD, PhD:
Immune system is a very interesting mechanism that is already wired in our body to defend us against cancer. Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology is a comprehensive research institute, which is devoted to harness the power of the immune system to fight cancer at all levels, from prevention, treatment, to survivorship. So we're working together to find the key to unlock the power of the immune system.

[Text on screen: Marcos de Lima, MD
Professor, Hematology
Director of the Blood & Bone Marrow Transplant & Cellular Therapy Program]

Marcos de Lima, MD:
It's a huge initiative that's a differentiator at Ohio State, with the support that's provided, the quality of the science that's being produced there, we're angling now working with cellular therapy. 

[Text on screen: Courtesy: Kite Pharma]

Marcos de Lima, MD: The most common immunotherapy that you're thinking of uses drugs in a more broad way. Cellular immunotherapy is trying to go a more specific way in which you can go after a specific target in the cancer so it's more individualized. And that's the idea, to enable basic science discoveries to reach the patient faster. That's where you welcome an entrepreneurial spirit so you can multiply the discoveries and reach more patients.

[Text on screen: Nandini Acharya, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology]

Nandini Acharya, PhD:
There's a seamless integration of basic research, clinical trials, translational science, and patient care here, which you normally don't find in other centers. It's a vibrant community. You have immunologists whose sole focus is on the advancement of immunotherapy.

[Text on screen: Margaret Gatti-Mays, MD, MPH, FACP
Associate Professor
Division of Medical Oncology]

Margaret Gatti-Mays, MD, MPH, FACP:
Immunotherapy has really kind of increased the responses among patients, but also increased the number of patients that respond to current therapies. For example, in breast cancer, when I graduated from medical school, which was a little bit more than a decade ago, we really had only one or two treatment regimens for our patients with triple negative breast cancer. Now, when I see patients in my clinic, it will sometimes be an hour discussion with various treatment options, and that's a direct result of incorporating immunotherapy into many of our treatment options.

Zihai Li, MD, PhD:
You have to figure out a way to be very specific. In other words, you cannot touch normal cells, normal organs. That's the problem with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, for instance. Immunotherapy, however, has a very exquisite specificity. You can train the immune system to remember the cancer, to fight specifically the cancer and leave the normal tissue alone. This is the promise of immunotherapy of cancer. There's some urgency here for patients who don't have much options, so we work very hard in our lab. We cannot wait for the federal government to provide funding next year or 10 years from now. We need to tell the story to the community, to mobilize the community, to help fund this kind of lifesaving research.

Raphael Pollock, MD, PhD, FACS:
Well, it's truly inspiring to see how the community does support these cancer efforts. We all want to be part of something that is bigger than ourselves as individuals. And I think the contributions that the community is making not only exemplify that, but provide tangible evidence that we can indeed contribute in ways that will make a difference.

[Text on screen: The James
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Cancer.osu.edu/ChooseTheJames]

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