Scientists Choose New Battles with Cancer Cells

In today's New York Times Claudia Dreifus reports on the recent work of James P. Allison who is the chairman of the immunology department at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Allison is a pioneer in cancer treatment with his work in immunotherapy--using the immune system to fight cancer cells. It's a cell on cell battle--yes, still that battle imagery and metaphor--but now with methods that motivate and encourage the body's T cells to fight cancer cells.

This is a brief but very interesting article highlighting Anderson's work and what it means for cancer treatment. I found the history very interesting--19th century patients with infections had healings which suggested that the body fought cancer while it fought infection. Makes intuitive sense, right?

This is also--again brief--the story of a cancer patient and a cancer caregiver who is also a cancer researcher. That's  CancerLand all in one.

Take a look. and big thanks to Claudia Dreifus for this news and background.

Here is the link to the article:
http://nyti.ms/1wLU4c8