The war on cancer has been joined by Silicon Valley's Sean Parker who co-founded Napster and is a former Facebook president. Parker donated $250 million on April 13, Wednesday to launch the Parker Institute for the research and development of a rare type of cancer treatments. Immunotherapy fights cancer cells by using the human immune system instead of using chemotherapy's powerful drugs to kill cancerous and healthy cells.
Immunotherapy is different because it uses the power of the human immune system to detect and destroy the cancer cells. One example is a PD-1 inhibitor. It attacks a type of protein called PD-1 that prevents the immune system from battling cancerous cells, according to Science Alert.
Immunotherapy has been making headline news lately because the long-term results are finally available. For example, the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) has been studying cancer immunotherapy for over half a century, and is one partner that will team up with the Parker Institute.
CRI CEO Jill O'Donnell-Tormey told Business Insider that one example of the treatments' success is former United States president Jimmy Carter. He was treated for melanoma with an immunotherapy named Keytruda and has been cancer-free since December 2015.
Keytruda only works around 30 percent of the time. However, when it functions it seems to keep cancer cells away for longer than current treatments such as chemotherapy.
In the past couple of months several big names have pushed for more cancer research in the area of immunotherapy. After Vice President Joe Biden's son passed away due to brain cancer he asked the US government to fund a "cancer moonshot" to find a cure.
Many pharmaceutical companies are also running clinical trials on immunotherapy drugs, and could produce billions of dollars in sales during the next few years.
Several other high-profile people have supported immunotherapy research. They include former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NantWorks CEO Patrick Soon-Shiong.
In related news, a new study by the University of New Mexico shows that smartphones, tablets, and laptops could boost a person's risk of skin cancer, according to KRQE. That is due to the reflection of the sun's ultraviolet light.
This video explains immunotherapy: