Tag Archives: immunotherapy

At the Intersection of Research and Treatment: Interviews with MSK Physician-Researchers

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Dr. Luis Diaz, Jr., left, and Dr. Michael Postow, right.

Dr. Luis Diaz, Jr., left. and Dr. Michael Postow, right. Photos by Rick DeWitt (l) and Chad Hunt (r).

Two MSK physician-researchers were profiled in the media last month.

Fast Company spoke with Dr. Luis Diaz, Jr., Head of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology. Dr. Diaz co-led a clinical trial of an immunotherapy for rectal cancer that proved effective without the need for surgery in all 14 participating patients. He aims to expand this research to cancers that are usually treated by extensive, life-altering surgeries, like esophageal, pancreatic, and stomach malignancies.

Becker’s Hospital Review interviewed Dr. Michael Postow, Chief of MSK’s Melanoma Service. Dr. Postow is excited about the growing efficacy of immunotherapies and the progress vaccines are making in cancer care. His research is motivated in part by the awareness that current treatment modalities do not yet help every patient; we have miles to go to improve care for everyone.

MSK is a Reason to Love NYC

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Dr. Luis Diaz Jr., far left, and Dr. Andrea Cercek, second from right, with patients from the trial. Photo by Richard DeWitt.

Dr. Luis Diaz Jr., far left, and Dr. Andrea Cercek, second from right, with patients from the trial. Photo by Richard DeWitt.

Reason #37 to love New York in 2022? Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

So says New York Magazine as it celebrates the groundbreaking clinical trial led by Dr. Andrea Cercek and Dr. Luis Diaz Jr. In the small trial, all 14 participants who received six months of immunotherapy for rectal cancer had complete remission without additional treatment. The patients had a specific mismatch repair-deficient tumor mutation, which is thought to occur for 5% to 10% of rectal cancers.

Read more about the trial from MSK’s coverage and the New England Journal of Medicine article.