{"id":136385,"date":"2019-04-29T18:47:43","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T16:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/how-we-are-developing-immunotherapies-relevant-to-africa-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2019-04-29T18:47:43","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T16:47:43","slug":"how-we-are-developing-immunotherapies-relevant-to-africa-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/how-we-are-developing-immunotherapies-relevant-to-africa-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"How we are developing immunotherapies relevant to Africa | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

How we are developing immunotherapies relevant to Africa<\/a>: <\/p>\n

For developing countries in Africa immunotherapy solutions is important given the high cost of cancer drugs.<\/span> Shutterstock<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The exorbitant costs of cancer drugs make it difficult for public and private health care systems to provide the latest treatments to patients. If this trend continues it will become increasingly difficult for patients to access basic cancer treatment, let alone the new generation of immunotherapy drugs.<\/p>\n

Immunotherapy refers to a therapeutic approach that targets or manipulates the immune system to fight disease without harming normal cells. <\/p>\n

In March 2019, the US released the first immunotherapy drug for breast cancer to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug, called Tecentriq, is used to treat triple-negative breast cancer. This type of cancer is resistant to surgery and chemotherapy. It highlights the major benefits of immunotherapy in patients who have limited \u2013 if any \u2013treatment options. <\/p>\n

For developing countries like South Africa, finding immunotherapy solutions is particularly important given the country\u2019s weak health system and the high cost of cancer drugs. The University of Cape Town has set up the country\u2019s first medical biotechnology-based immunotherapy laboratory. The lab, where we do our research, is strongly committed to the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic tools for cancer.<\/p>\n

Most cancer research has been done on populations of European descent. This means that there\u2019s minimal data on African populations. Our lab aims to fill this knowledge gap by diagnosing and treating patients of African descent. The aim is to identify immunotherapy targets in this underrepresented population.<\/p>\n

Our research<\/h2>\n

There are five main classes of immunotherapies. These are:<\/p>\n