Dear Colleagues,

Happy June, where here at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), we are celebrating Cancer Immunotherapy Month™.  I hope you continue to join us on social media this month as many of us share ‘Why I Wear White’ stories.

Personally, I wear white to both celebrate the rapid growth in the field over the last decade and to rededicate myself to the many patients who continue to not respond to immunotherapy. Many of us believe the key to unlocking resistance to immunotherapy is through combinations. You can see this evidenced by the sheer number of combination trials. Looking back to 2015, we saw the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a combination immunotherapy, now known as nivolumab plus ipilimumab originally for use in patients with metastatic melanoma. Today it is one of the most important combinations in immunotherapy. 

For my most recent Fireside Chat, I had the honor of speaking with the pioneers of the Ipi/Nivo combination: Mario Sznol, MD of Yale Cancer Center and past President of SITC and Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and SITC Secretary/Treasurer. During our conversation, Drs. Sznol and Wolchok take us on the journey of Ipi/Nivo. We discuss toxicity, dosing and more, plus we get to hear how Drs. Sznol and Wolchok got their start in immunotherapy.

It was great catching up with these two, and I thank them for taking the time to sit down with me for this Fireside Chat. As we all work tirelessly to increase the response rate to immunotherapy, from novel checkpoint inhibitors, to combination approaches, to cell therapies, to bispecifics, to vaccines and cytokines, let’s all remember to wear white for the true driver of our collective passion: making cure a reality for all patients.

Sincerely,

Patrick Hwu, MD
SITC President