Developing New T Cell Immunotherapies for Difficult Solid Tumors: Prof. George Coukos, Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV

Have a glimpse into the future of cancer treatment where an army of your own tiny soldiers fiercely combats the most stubborn cancers, even at late stage. They’re called T cells. My today’s guest has worked on immunotherapies that arm T cells, patient’s own white blood cells with weapons agains tumors to infuse them back to the patient’s body.Whether you’re an oncologist or a nonspecialist, you may be sure you’ll learn a tonne from this episode.You’ll hear abouthow tumors suppress anti-cancer immune responsewhy solid tumors in ovarian cancer, colon cancer, gastro-intestinal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and some breast cancers are more challenging for immunotherapiesmelanoma, lung cancerTIL therapiesadoptive T cell therapiesautologous dendritic cell vaccineand patient experienceProfessor George Coukos is on a mission to find a cure for the most difficult cancers. Trained as an MD and obstetrician-gynaecologist, he studied and researched cell biology and oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, which led to the discovery of spontaneous anti-tumor response in ovarian cancer. Now he leads major oncology research institutions in Lausanne, Switzerland, to develop novel T cell therapy approaches for solid tumors. He’s the director of Department of Oncology at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), as well as the local branch of Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. An esteemed researcher with over 200 publications, known for the development of combinational immune therapies that have been approved for lung, liver, and kidney cancers.To follow Prof. Coukos and his colleagues' recent developments go to https://www.unil.ch/dof/home.htmlhttps://www.ludwigcancerresearch.org/location/lausanne/Timestamps:0:00 Prof. George Coukos, Department of Oncology UNIL-CHUV1:23 Metastatic Melanoma Complete Response to TIL Treatment5:19 Autologous Personalized Treatment for Solid Tumors8:23 Early Research into Immunotherapies: Steven Rosenberg10:09 Spontaneous Anti-Tumor Response in Ovarian Cancer14:14 Immunotherapies: Drug Combinations, T Cell Therapies, CAR T Cell Therapy in Blood Cancers18:51 Challenges of CAR T Cell Therapy in Solid Tumors20:44 Developing Effective Immunotherapies for Solid Tumors, Starting from More Immunogenic Tumors: Melanoma, Lung Cancer27:00 Clinical Trial and Patient-Reported Outcomes31:11 Why Ovarian, Colon, Gastro-Intestinal, Some Breast Cancers Are More Challenging for T Cell Therapies?38:48 Second Generation of T Cell Therapy: NeoTIL42:52 Personalized Dendritic Cell Vaccine46:04 When Will These Therapies Be Available for Patients52:19 We Owe It to the Patients56:16 Enabling Accelerating Conditions for Cancer Research in Europe1:09:08 Convergence of Different Innovation Areas to Support the Breakthroughs, AI Role1:14:58 Follow X-Health.show, Disclaimer If you've enjoyed listening, you'll make us happy by clicking "Follow" on X-Health.show and leaving a review.The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have any medical questions, please consult your healthcare practitioner. The opinions on the show are Alex's or her guests. The podcast does not make any responsibility or warranties about guests statements or credibility. While the podcast makes every effort to ensure that the information shared is accurate, please let us know if you have any comments, suggestions or corrections.