——文章来自美国国立癌症研究所
为有效促进癌症免疫治疗临床试验，美国国家癌症中心计划花5年的时间出资1700万美元用以建立一项新的肿瘤免疫治疗试验网络。
在上一个10年进行的一项肿瘤免疫学研究使得人类更加深入的了解到复杂的免疫系统是如何对抗肿瘤，而人体又是如何利用自身免疫反应作为治疗手段来对抗肿瘤的。免疫治疗有希望成为除手术、放疗、化疗等传统治疗手段之外的第四种肿瘤治疗方式。这种方式使得免疫系统能够识别癌细胞并将其视为外来入侵者(如同病毒)，找出并消灭残余的肿瘤细胞，却伴以极低的副作用。
此网络是针对试验而设计、开发和实施的，可广泛的吸引免疫治疗群体的参与。试验将集中在"现有"患者群体中进行，这样有助于更多研究机构在不同环境中进行测试分析，而这个群体也将成为进一步研发免疫治疗剂的主要受试者。
(合一康生物学术推广部编译，原文如下)
US has established a new Cancer Immunotherapy Trails Network
- -Abstracted from American National Cancer Institute
In an effort to accelerate clinical trials of promising cancer immunotherapies, the National Cancer Institute has awarded a five-year, $17 million grant to establish a new Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network.
A great deal of progress in the last 10 years in tumor immunology has led to a deeper understanding of the complex immune response against tumors and potential therapeutic avenues to utilize the body’s own immune response to fight tumors. Immunotherapies hold promise as an alternative to traditional treatments like chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. The approach teaches the immune system to recognize a cancer cell as a foreign invader (like a virus) and seek out and destroy residual tumor cells, typically with minimal side effects.
The Network will be to design, develop and conduct trials not otherwise possible, but with broad input and appeal for the immunotherapy community. Trials will focus on developing "off the shelf" regimens that can be used by multiple investigators in multiple circumstances and thus can serve as the backbone for further immunotherapy agent development.
