Harnessing the immune system
Immunotherapy has transformed cancer care by using the power of a person’s own immune system to recognize and attack the disease. MSK has been at the forefront of this field for decades and continues to lead the way forward, helping to bring this promising approach to more people with cancer.
Together, we’ve made remarkable progress
MSK has consistently led the world in the study and development of cancer immunotherapies, with many of our successes making worldwide headlines:
- A remarkable 100% remission rate in an MSK clinical trial of a new immunotherapy approach to treat a type of rectal cancer, which led to an FDA approval — and a Time magazine cover story.
- The first-ever trial of experimental personalized messenger RNA-based therapeutic vaccines in pancreatic cancer.
- Promising results from a personalized cancer vaccine designed to prevent melanoma from returning after surgery.
And you’re advancing an even better tomorrow
Your gift to support immunotherapy research at MSK can help expand what we know about the immune system and build the future of immunotherapy. At MSK, we’re:
- Tackling immunotherapy’s biggest challenges to make treatments better and more effective for more people with cancer.
- Using artificial intelligence to design better cancer therapies.
Kelly Spill's rectal cancer vanished in an MSK clinical trial using immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy in action
Your support sustains MSK's momentum
Extending CAR T cell therapy
Solid tumors have presented a persistent challenge to CAR T cell therapy, but MSK scientists are investigating whether a new cellular target called uPAR could be the key to making treatments more effective.
Read about the discoveryCreating cancer vaccines
Targeted vaccines for cancer are one of today’s most exciting potential advances in treatment. The Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at MSK allows us to lead the field in researching and developing vaccines for a wide range of cancers.
Learn moreDeveloping new immunotherapies
Unlike CAR T cell therapy, which recognizes cancer markers on the outside of tumor cells, T cell receptor (TCR) therapy engineers a patient’s own immune cells to see targets hiding inside them. MSK is investigating this new approach.
See the latestUniting the brightest minds
Your funds enable collaboration that gets new discoveries to patients as soon as possible. The Marie-Josée Kravis Center for Cancer Immunobiology brings our researchers together at a single hub to help innovations happen faster.
Read moreOvercoming T cell exhaustion
Over time, T cells used in immunotherapy can become “exhausted” and lose their ability to fight cancer. MSK researchers are investigating whether blocking signaling via a molecule called MEK could help T cells stay active longer.
Learn more
Help us tackle the biggest questions in cancer
The MSK Campaign: Leading Science. Changing Lives.
The MSK community is raising $6 billion by 2030 to accelerate advances across six key strategic initiatives. Learn more and join us in our mission of ending cancer for life.
Learn more about The MSK Campaign