The FDA approved the use of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab [Opdivo] to treat advanced kidney cancer, the most common form of the cancer, which is often resistant to treatment, particularly after metastasis. In clinical trials, patients who received the gene therapy drug survived much longer and had half as many serious side effects as the protocol treatment. This drug, and a similar one, Keytruda , target molecular pathways PD-1 and PD-L1. Blocking these pathways may help the body’s immune system fight cancer cells.
Founding ACGT Scientific Advisory Council member Dr. Lieping Chen, Yale School of Medicine, discovered the immune suppressive functions of PD-L1 and invented the principles behind targeting the PD-1 pathway to treat advanced stages of human cancers.
Keytruda, as well as Opdivo, were previously approved by the FDA for the treatment of advanced melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer. PD-1 stops immune cells from attacking normal healthy cells by mistake. Tumor cells make PD-L1 turn on PD-1 when immune cells approach. Keytruda, an engineered immune protein called a monoclonal antibody, disrupts this cloaking effect and lets the immune cells do their job and eat the tumor cell.
Former President Jimmy Carter gives credit to Keytruda for his advanced melanoma being in full remission. Carter’s Sunday school class erupted in applause when he announced his latest checkup showed his tumors appear to have shrunk completely. “And when I went this week, they didn’t find any cancer at all, so I have good news,” he told his overflowing class.