What are our goals

The foundation of our research is on our early successes in harnessing the immune system to treat cancer. Previously considered incurable, many cases of skin cancers have been successfully treated by harnessing the immune system. In the first round of these immunotherapies — anti-CTLA-4 (ipilimumab/tremelimumab) and anti-PD-1 (nivolumab/pembrolizumab) — between 25% and 40% of patients are showing objective responses including stabilization and complete remission. Those who responded are living much longer than with any other potential treatments. But only a portion of patients' immune systems respond to these treatments. Why not all other cancers? Furthermore, why not other diseases?

We believe that there are additional immune barriers to overcome; barriers whose presence can be detected within a tissue biopsy. Based on our successful studies, we want to be able to identify people who will respond to next generation immunotherapies prior to treatment, and then precisely choose how to treat the disease. Similarly, we believe that classifying diseases by immunoprofiles will assist us in preventing recurrence or advancement of the disease. In sum, getting more tissue biopsies like yours into this exploratory pipeline will help us accelerate cures for diseases. We recognize that sometimes having a biopsy takes a conscious decision on your part, and we sincerely thank you for joining our effort.