Dr. Frank Bedu-Addo, President and CEO of PDS Biotechnology, focuses on the challenge of cancer recurrence and the development of a targeted immunotherapy approach using nanoparticle technology. Their lead immunotherapy candidate is designed to train the immune system to detect and attack microscopic or undetectable cancer cells, prolonging survival by preventing recurrence. Early clinical results in cervical, head and neck, and other HPV 16-positive cancers have been promising, showing sustained immune response leading to long-lasting T cell memory.

Frank explains, "Recurrence of cancer after treatment is actually one of the bigger hurdles we face in successfully treating cancer. So, PDS Biotechnology, as you know, we have a sharp focus on advancing our targeted immunotherapy platforms to address significant unmet needs in treating cancer. And this is actually one of those key unmet needs in cancer today. The prevailing hypothesis on knowledge is that cancer treatment, whether it's done using radiation therapy or anti-cancer drugs such as chemotherapy, both methods actually work by destroying cancer cells or halting the growth."

"And so what may happen with time is that these remaining cancer cells may then grow until they can be detected or begin to cause symptoms. Now, even if the cancer has been removed by surgery, there is still a risk that some tiny microscopic cancer cells could still remain in the body. We would therefore expect the ideal immunotherapy to be able to detect these tiny microscopic cancer cells, even if they have spread to other parts of the body."

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