- Napster founder Sean Parker said that he will donate $ 250 million for cancer research
- Parker said that cancer immunotherapy is already “at its turning point“
- The move came after President Barack Obama called for public assistance on the federal cancer research program
A billionaire from the technological industry has vowed to donate a total amount of $ 250 million dollars to six health facilities in the United States of America (U.S.A.) for cancer immunotherapy research, according to a report from U.S.A. Today.
In an article written by Jayne O’Donnell on April 13, 2016, it was disclosed that Sean Parker, founder of the renowned music-sharing site Napster, said that he believes cancer immunotherapy is already “at its turning point” in the medical world.
“I want to make it a front-line treatment. It would change the whole cost of care downstream,” said Parker; who also served as the founding president of Facebook Inc.
Prior to the announcement of his donation, Parker founded the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy in San Francisco, California, which aims to assist scientists in developing “high risk best ideas that may not get funded by the government.”
This move came after President Barack Obama called for public support on a $ 1 billion federal cancer research program, which the chief executive called a “moonshot.”
Last month, several philanthropists, including Jones Apparel Group founder Sidney Kimmel and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, have also pledged financial assistance worth $ 125 million for the benefit of the Johns Hopkins University’s medical school.
“Now we can use our time to directly make progress,” said Jedd Wolchok; a cancer researcher and an oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Meanwhile, oncologist Stan Gerson from Cleveland said that while immunotherapy can lead to dramatic responses in lethal cancers, only 30 to 40 percent of patients positively benefit from the treatment.
He also added that most immunotherapy treatments relapse in one to three years and that medical experts are not too familiar with the reasons why the number of cancer patients whose bodies actually respond to the procedure varies.
“Is it a replacement for everything else we’re doing? Right now we can’t say so, but this is the time to make investments and pronouncements,” Gerson said; to which many would agree in the hope that real progress would be achieved towards intensified cancer research.
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