Danny Khalil
Converting living tumors into personalized immunotherapies.
By building on principles of nanotechnology, vaccine science, and basic immunology, Dr. Khalil has developed treatments that convert living tumors into sources of anti-cancer immune cells that can eliminate tumors throughout the body. By initiating a systemic cancer-specific immune response, these treatments are especially promising for people with metastatic cancer. This new approach, which converts a site of disease into a source of treatment, has been shown to regress tumors in models of diverse types of aggressive cancer. This work has received multiple prestigious awards from organizations dedicated to eradicating cancer, and it is now being prepared for clinical trials across multiple cancer types.
About Dr. Khalil
Dr. Khalil, an expert in the field of cancer immunotherapy, treats patients with traditionally difficult to treat malignancies (e.g., metastatic cancers of the pancreas, liver, and colon), and early results suggest that his novel approach to cancer treatment may be effective not only for these cancer types, but also for others including breast, lung, prostate, and gynecologic cancers.
His current research is focused on developing new forms of immunotherapy (novel antibodies, vaccines, and nanoparticles) that demonstrate efficacy where other treatments have failed—bridging laboratory studies with clinical trials in a translational research program.
Advancing Immunotherapy
Specific proteins normally maintain immune system balance by stopping an immune response at the right time to prevent autoimmunity. But cancers take advantage of the shut-down mechanism by activating these proteins—allowing tumor cells to evade detection by the immune system. The immunotherapies commercially available today are primarily “checkpoint inhibitors.” These drugs bind to and inactivate the same proteins, enhancing the body’s ability to locate and kill cancer cells.
Unfortunately, patients often become resistant to this treatment over time: the supply of T cells, the white blood cells that initially destroy cancer, eventually run out or become exhausted, and the cancer continues to grow and metastasize.
Next-generation Immunotherapy: Solving the Problem of Treatment-Resistance
But what if a new drug could maintain the stock of cancer-fighting T cells and sustain the immune response? This is the goal of Dr. Khalil and his colleagues. They have developed several new immunotherapy drugs—including novel cancer vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and tiny “nanoparticles”—which may be effective for treating multiple cancer types over a longer period than checkpoint inhibitors. The investigators are preparing to evaluate them in clinical trials.
Using these drugs in laboratory models of metastatic cancer, Dr. Khalil has converted living tumors into sources of active immune cells that can recognize and destroy cancer cells. Not only do these immune cells eliminate the tumors from which they arise; they go on to travel throughout the body to act against tumor cells elsewhere, including microscopic cells that cannot yet be detected. Laboratory models have shown that this approach results in “immune memory”: even tumors that are later introduced into the models (after treatment has ended) are eliminated by the circulating immune cells.
Looking Ahead
Immunotherapy has generated extraordinary excitement in the cancer community. Physician-scientists have developed drugs that effectively harness the immune system to fight cancer. The next step is to sustain this response and produce cures. Dr. Khalil’s work shows that this may indeed be possible—and for the treatment of the most challenging types of cancer.
Your generous support and donations allow Dr. Khalil to turn these breakthroughs into lifesaving treatments for as many people as possible - as quickly as possible. Donations made through this page will go directly to fund his study, making a tangible difference in the lives of people with cancer.
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