Fighting the toughest cancers

Turning deadly diagnoses into manageable conditions begins in the laboratory. And in this, Stanford Medicine has an advantage: an enterprise of basic research and biomedical innovation that is second to none. Bringing together world-renowned experts in genomics, imaging, immunology, bioinformatics, regenerative medicine, and other disciplines, we’ll assemble and fully empower dream teams of scientists who are capable of unraveling the mysteries of even the most recalcitrant cancers.

With each new discovery, we’ll offer new hope to patients fighting cancers that have proven most resistant to cure. Transforming Cancer Care will also create “impact funds” that target melanoma, pancreatic, thoracic, skin, kidney, bladder, prostate, stomach, colon, and women’s cancers.

The Stanford Vision

Revealing cancer to the immune system
Stanford stem cell scientists have developed a promising cancer drug by identifiying a chemical signal that hides cancer cells from the immune system. CD47 – dubbed “don’t eat me” by the team – tricks the immune system into thinking cancer cells are normal so it won’t attack them. An antibody developed by the team silences CD47 so the body can recognize and defend itself against more than 20 types of cancer. This work, rejected as too speculative by one public funding source, is moving into clinical trials this year. That’s a scant seven years after the team’s initial discovery, as opposed to the typical drug development time frame of 20 years or more.