The March 5, 2016 issue of New Scientist included some welcome news on cancer research. In an article “Closing in On Cancer,” Tasuku Honjo’s work on cancer immunotherapy through the PD-1 pathway has provided many sufferers with a safer mode of therapy. Indeed, former-President Jimmy Carter was recently given a clean bill of health thanks to the drug which works on the PD-1 receptor. In Carter’s case, it was a malignant brain tumor; but the drug has seen a good response from other cancer types as well.
While we have not won the war on cancer, we have reached a turning point in the battle—similar to the discovery of penicillin, says the article. Penicillin was a turning point in history. And if the article turns out to be right, cancer may become history, too.
