ASCO 2017 | Immunotherapy: effective yet complex drugs

Vamsidhar Velcheti, MD, from the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland, OH, provides us an insight into the issue with immunotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of cancer, namely their highly complex mechanism of action, which may even behave in a dynamic fashion, being able to evolve with time and with treatment, thereby altering their efficacies and hampering their therapeutic benefit. In addition, he discusses the need to re-evaluate the standard time course of the prescription of these drugs, noting that they should not be given if no longer necessary, with the aim of saving financial resources and reduce the degree of toxicity in treated patients. This interview was filmed at the American Society of Oncology (ASCO) 2017 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.