Oncology
Each year, an estimated 12 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer - and more than half will eventually die from the disease. According to the American Cancer Society the number of new cancer cases in the U.S. is projected at 1.4 million for 2008. Approximately one out of every two men and one out of every three women will develop cancer during their lifetimes. Cancer accounts for nearly one-quarter of all deaths in the United States, exceeded only by heart disease.
Several clinical observations support the importance of tumor immune surveillance in humans. The increased risk of tumor development in immunosuppressed patients, cases of spontaneous tumor regression, and the presence of tumor-reactive T cells and B cells correlating with improved prognosis all point to a role for the immune system in controlling tumor growth. Immunotherapy has had success with treating certain tumors and this approach remains of interest for improving cancer treatment options.
Immunotherapy has the potential to react synergistically with other treatment modalities. New approaches to manipulate conventional cancer therapies to work in concert with the immune system will be explored.
Rational combinations and sequences of therapy, coupled with treatment strategies based on emerging understanding of immunobiology, may result in therapies that control and/or eradicate established cancer.
We believe that our product candidate currently in clinical development for the treatment of cancer - ANA773 - has the potential to be an important component of these next-generation immunotherapies.
Last Updated 1/12/2009
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Oncology