Immunotherapy 101 with North Star Cancer Advocacy President and MBC Advocate - Carolyn Leigh!

In this educational, refreshing, and beautifully hopeful episode, Wren, the creator of the Living Our Breast Lives Podcast, is joined by the incredible Metastatic Breast Cancer Thriver, Carolyn Leigh, the President of North Star Cancer Advocacy.In 2018, she was the third member of her family to be diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, including her mother and uncle. After her metastatic diagnosis, she spent years studying the latest scientific understandings about the immune system and immunotherapies for cancer before launching North Star Cancer Advocacy in 2022 with the aim of providing information to the community and advocating for vast increases in NIH funding. The North Star Board of Directors and the MBC community recently raised $100k to further the research of combining Natural Killer cells (immune system cells) and one of the most promising breast cancer drugs in preclinical development, ErSO-TFPy.In this episode, join me as Carolyn breaks down: - How the inspirational Judy Perkins and TILs therapy reshaped her belief in what’s possible- The moment she decided to found North Star- A simple breakdown of MHC I expression and why some immunotherapies succeed while others don’t- A crash course in how immunotherapy actually works inside the body- Her mission to raise six figures for immunotherapy-driven clinical trials — and what real success would look like - How and where to access immunotherapy clinical trials- A raw conversation about allyship, momentum, and why the MBC movement can’t depend solely on those living with the diseaseCarolyn isn’t just an MBC advocate… she’s a brilliant mind, a fierce researcher, the president of the North Star Cancer Research Foundation, and a woman determined to change the future of metastatic breast cancer!Living Our Breast Lives Information:Email: [email protected]: @livingourbreastlivesFounder: Wren MorrobelPersonal Instagram: @wren_morrPodcast Guest Speaker: Carolyn Leigh's Information:Email: [email protected]: @[email protected]: North Star Cancer Research FoundationWebsite: NorthStarCancerResearch.orgCRI Clinical Trial Finder:https://cri.careboxhealth.com/en-US/