Immunotherapy: A Paradigm Shift for Cancer Patients

Every year, the NewYork Weill Cornell Council hosts a fall lecture for its membership of supporters of NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine to learn about the latest advancements pushing medicine forward from some of healthcare's leading minds. This year's installment, titled "Immunotherapy: A Paradigm Shift for Cancer Patients", was presented by Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD, FAACR, FASCO, the Meyer Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. This presentation offered insights on how cancers challenge the body, advances in the study of immunotherapy, and more, including:

• The immune system is capable of distinguishing between foreign and self-occurring presences in the body, often utilizing the body's T-cells as the first line of defense in a multistep process involving several mechanisms and molecules.
  
  

• Metastatic melanoma is one of several kinds of skin cancer and the most common cause of skin cancer-related deaths.
  
  

• Immunotherapy is a growing part of precision medicine, often employed when dealing with cancers that are defying other types of treatment due to the unique genomic structures of both the disease and the specialized responses the body's immune system employs when immunotherapy is introduced. 

NewYork Weill Cornell Council members serve as advocates and ambassadors for NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center as an academic medical center supporting patient care, research, and education. Through fellowship and friendly interaction, the Council strengthens ties between NewYork-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medicine, and their community of supporters and friends. For more information on the Council and how to become a member, please visit its website.