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Cancer Interception and the Tumor Microenvironment

Cancer Interception and the Tumor Microenvironment

“We are intent on understanding what turns healthy cells into cancerous cells and continue to make progress in this area. These critical insights will help us advance medicines to interrupt the process and improve outcomes for patients.”

Peter F. Lebowitz, M.D., Ph.D.

Global Oncology Therapeutic Area Head

One of the innovative ways we are seeking to eliminate cancer is through cancer interception. Our researchers are going beyond early detection to determine why some healthy cells turn cancerous in order to develop treatments that interrupt that process. The theory behind interception is that finding pre-malignant cells will allow us to target them before they become more aggressive and resistant to treatment. We are currently exploring biological precursors that allow us to measure abnormalities before a person has clinical symptoms of cancer.  For example, we are pursuing and pioneering research in smoldering myeloma and colorectal cancer as we work to identify other diseases for interception strategies.

We pursue a deep understanding of the relationships between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment – the cellular environment in which tumors exist.  We are applying our knowledge of how tumor cells interact with immune cells and other components of the tumor microenvironment to play a critical role in cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, and drug resistance.

We are also focused on localized and more targeted delivery of therapy to patients with early stages of disease, like bladder cancer, where there is an opportunity to improve outcomes and apply interception approaches. Our recently acquired TARIS delivery system is an example of our commitment in this space.

Oncology

Oncology

Human lung bronchioalveolar carcinoma cell