Avoiding, Treating & Curing Cancer With the Immune System | Dr. Alex Marson

The gist

1. Smoking, UV exposure, and pesticides are the most significant modifiable cancer risk factors, though many people get cancer despite doing everything right.
2. CAR T-cell therapy takes a patient's own immune cells, genetically modifies them to recognize cancer, and has shown dramatic results in childhood leukemias.
3. Checkpoint inhibitor drugs like PD-1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors remove natural brakes on T cells, letting the immune system attack cancer, with strong results in melanoma.
4. Newer CRISPR variants called base editors and epigenetic editors avoid cutting DNA entirely, making more controlled changes or switching genes on and off instead.