Dr. Hoos Explains the Future of Immunotherapy

Axel Hoos, MD, PhD, the medical lead in Immunology/Oncology at Bristol-Myers Squibb, describes that immunotherapy is still an emerging field, even though it has been around for a long time. He believes acceptance of immunotherapy is increasing in the oncology community and that immunotherapy will become one of the key treatment modalities in the coming years.

Dr. Hoos says that because there were no successes that provided patient benefit until recently, in the field of cancer immunotherapy has remained an emerging field. With the approval of cancer vaccine Provenge and the approval of belimumab, there is beginning to be a broader acceptance of immunotherapy in the oncology community at large. Dr. Hoos says this acceptance makes it more likely that there will be further investigations that are successful.