December 5, 2014 Programs Report
By: Teri
Presented by:
Michael K K Wong MD PhD FRCPC
Professor of Medicine , Keck School of Medicine Berle and Lucy Adams Chair in Cancer Research Head – Solid Tumors Section Skin Cancer and Melanoma Clinics University of Southern California USC / Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

Dr. Wong took a very complex subject and broke it down in easy to understand analogies that even this reporter somewhat understood!

Here is what he covered:

•What is the immune system ? Thymus, Spleen, bone marrow lymph nodes
•How does the immune system work ? Different cells within the immune system do different things but the two important cells seem to be t-cell and Dendritic cells actively sample their environment and interact with other immune cells.
•How does the immune system attack cancer? Immune cells can search for cancer and basically implode the cells causing it to go away.
•The immunotherapy of cancer: Cytokines. Dr. Wong talked about foot on the gas vs. foot on the brake type of immunotherapies that can either use cells to prevent the growth of cancer or accelerate the growth of certain cells that can stimulate cancer fighting cells.
•The immunotherapy of cancer: Checkpoint Inhibitors.
•The immunotherapy of cancer: Vaccines. It has been found that vaccines can not only rupture cancer cells and cure cancer but it has a secondary effect of killing off distant cancer cells.
•What is in the future for you ? Dr. Wong ended by saying “this is the beginning of the beginning” of curing cancer!