Cancer Research Institute Hosts 11th Annual Cancer Immunotherapy Month™ Showcasing Lifesaving Breakthroughs in Immuno-Oncology

NEW YORK, June 2, 2023 – The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving more lives by fueling the discovery and development of powerful immunotherapies for all types of cancer, is providing various education, awareness, and fundraising offerings during Cancer Immunotherapy Month™ in June. This is the 11^th Cancer Immunotherapy Month CRI is highlighting since 2011’s monumental U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the first checkpoint inhibitor to treat cancer. CRI invites its worldwide community of patients, caregivers, scientists, supporters, and partners to both reflect on past immunotherapy successes and look to the promise of future life-saving scientific research.

“CRI is proud to celebrate our 11^th Cancer Immunotherapy Month™ with our various stakeholders,” said CRI CEO and Director of Scientific Affairs Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, PhD. “In recent years, immunotherapies fueled by the discoveries of outstanding scientists have changed the cancer treatment landscape. Continued investment in basic and translational research holds significant promise to make more life-saving breakthroughs a reality.”

Over a Decade of Steady Gains in Immunotherapy Research

Cancer immunotherapy research has been making steady progress over the past 11 years. Scientists are unmasking new discoveries at a steady pace and there are new treatments and technologies in the clinical pipeline. Since 2011, immunotherapy has become an integral part of treatment for more than 20 types of cancer, with that number set to increase. Since January of 2023, the FDA has approved two more immunotherapies: anti-PDL1 antibodies for uterine cancer and for Merkel cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, respectively.

“Between new immunotherapy approvals by the FDA and exciting areas of promising research such as gene editing, CRI sees the future of cancer immunotherapy as very bright,” O’Donnell-Tormey added.

Upcoming highlights for the 11^th Cancer Immunotherapy Month include:

• I’m the Answer to Cancer™ Patient Stories: Heartfelt video stories from patients share their experiences persevering through cancer, learning about immunotherapy, receiving treatment, and how they are currently living their lives.
• Cancer Immunotherapy and You™ Webinar: On Tuesday, June 20, CRI will present the latest installment of its Cancer Immunotherapy and You™ webinar series, titled “The CRISPR Revolution: How Genomic Engineering is Transforming Cancer Immunotherapy.” This webinar for patients, caregivers, and families features Dr. Alexander Marson, inaugural CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR (Scientists Taking Risks), director of the Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology, and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Marson will illuminate how CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and gene editing are shaping the future of cancer immunotherapy. Learn more and register here.
• #Immune2Cancer Global Social Media Awareness Campaign: CRI invites everyone who wants to be involved with Cancer Immunotherapy Month to join us on social media to celebrate the promise of cancer immunotherapy and the progress towards creating a world immune to cancer. Throughout June, CRI will ask the pubic to share why immunotherapy gives them hope, and we invite everyone to post selfies on #Immune2Cancer Day, June 16. This marks a celebratory day of giving.

Check out our full month-long calendar  to find other ways of getting involved in Cancer Immunotherapy Month this June.

Our Sponsors

The Cancer Research Institute would like to thank our sponsors for their generous support for Cancer Immunotherapy Month, Immunotherapy Patient Summits™ in English and Spanish, and Cancer Immunotherapy and You™ Webinars sponsors in the past fiscal year, ending June 30, 2023:

Bristol Myers Squibb, TelevisaUnivision, Merck, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, GSK, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sanofi, Genmab, Eli Lilly and Company, AbbVie Inc., CRISPR Therapeutics Inc., MorphoSys Foundation Inc., Alkermes, Inc., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer, Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health, The University of Chicago, Yale Cancer Center, Yale New Haven Health at Smilow Cancer Hospital, 2seventy bio

About CRI

Established in 1953, the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to harnessing our immune system’s power to control and potentially cure all cancers. Our mission: Save more lives by fueling the discovery and development of powerful immunotherapies for all types of cancer. To accomplish this, we rely on donor support and collaborative partnerships to fund and carry out the most innovative clinical and laboratory research around the world, support the next generation of the field’s leaders, and serve as the trusted source of information on immunotherapy for cancer patients and their caregivers. https://www.cancerresearch.org

Cancer Research Institute is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit under EIN 13-1837442. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable under the law.