Episode #1

In our inaugural episode, Dr. Keith Knutson, an immunologist and professor of immunology at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, discusses the promise of vaccines for cancer recurrence. Dr. Knutson’s research focus is on the immunology and immunotherapy of breast and ovarian cancers, both the basic immunobiology and clinical translation, including clinical trials. His work is aimed at preventing patients with these cancers from relapsing after receiving optimal conventional therapies. Dr. Knutson is the principal investigator of a vaccine study, open through ACCRU, that is testing a folate alpha receptor vaccine to stimulate the immune system of patients with TNBC who are disease-free following conventional therapy. In addition, as it relates to HER2-positive breast cancer, Dr. Knutson and another colleague at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Saranya Chumsri, lead a phase II Trial to Evaluate Immune-related Biomarkers for Pathological Response in patients with Stage II-III HER2-postive Breast Cancer Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.