Beyond Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors To A New Era Of Personalized Medicine

Immunotherapies are being touted—both in scientific literature and the general media—as the most promising advances in cancer treatment in decades. Indeed, newly approved drugs are improving survival dramatically for patients with many difficult-to-treat cancers such as melanoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and cancer of the bladder, lung, kidney, and head and neck. Immunotherapies are coming to the fore in cancer treatment as we learn more about tumor genetics, pathophysiology, tumor microenvironment, and as interest grows in attacking tumors on multiple levels. Some—though still few—therapies under development are truly individualized for the patient, potentially ushering in a new, even more tailored approach to personalized medicine.