New age of vaccination against cancer and autoimmune diseases

In March this year, two landmark new drugs were approved for treatment of melanoma and systemic lupus.

These new treatments are the rewards of the long scientific march to understand how the immune system tells friend from foe, according to Professor Chris Goodnow who will be speaking at the Australian Academy of Science’s free public lecture tonight.

“They are the start of a new age of vaccination against cancer and autoimmune diseases,” he says.

“They are a small step for most patients but a giant leap for mankind.”

About half of all new drugs being tested for cancer and autoimmune disorders involve antibodies. This development has emerged from work originally performed by the late Professors Frank Fenner and Frank Macfarlane Burnet.

The miracle of immunity: how the immune system tells foe from friend is the title of Professor Goodnow’s talk – the latest in the Academy’s public lecture series held to honour the life and work of Professor Fenner.

Fenner’s Science Today and Tomorrow public lecture series:
The miracle of immunity: how the immune system tells foe from friend
Professor Chris Goodnow