Top researchers to call on FDA to expedite immunotherapy cancer treatment, tomorrow, 10 a.m.

Dr. Gary Gilliland, president of Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Dr. David Maloney, an immunotherapy researcher and physician, will announce at a Nov. 1 National Press Club Newsmaker press conference the first-of-its-kind immunotherapy treatment center, which will be housed in a new dedicated research-focused clinic at the Seattle facility.

The event will be held at 10 a.m. in the Club's Zenger Room.

The doctors will explore how immunotherapy is showing promise as a cure for many cancers that up to now have frustrated doctors and patients. They also will call for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expedite procedures to make immunotherapy drugs more readily available to patients.

Immunotherapy refers to treatments that harness the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. This is vastly different from the primary existing treatments of radiation and chemotherapy that are highly toxic “search and destroy” efforts that often have a very negative effect on a patient’s quality of life.

By contrast, immunotherapy so far has allowed patients to be successfully treated without similar side effects, according to proponents. Many Americans first became aware of immunotherapy last year when former President Jimmy Carter announced a surprise turnaround and reported that he was cancer-free after being treated with immunotherapy drugs.

Gilliland, a physician-scientist, is an expert in cancer genetics and precision medicine. He holds a Ph.D. in microbiology and a medical doctorate and was professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University.

Maloney, an immunotherapy researcher and physician, has played an instrumental role in two of the biggest breakthroughs in cancer therapy -- the development and testing of Rituximab, the first targeted antibody-based therapy for cancer, and today’s emerging T-cell therapies.

This event is open to credentialed media and Club members free of charge. No advance registration is required.

Contact: Jamie Horwitz, Newsmaker Chair at 202/549-4921, [email protected]