Immunotherapy boosts the immune system to fight cancer cells. Gustave Roussy is a pionner in immunotherapy and the largest tratment facility in Europe. Between 2013 and 2018, 241 immunotherapy-based clinical trials were implemented at the Insitute and 3,317 patients have been treated with immunotherapy.
By their participation in the initial clinical trials of anti-CTLA-4 antibodies and then of anti-PD-1/PD-L1, the Gustave Roussy research teams contributed to demonstrating the effectiveness of these novel therapeutic agents. They validated a new paradigm: targeting immune cells instead of cancer cells, to unblock the body’s defences.
In 2015, Gustave Roussy launched an institutional program dedicated to immunotherapy: the GRIP (Gustave Roussy Immunotherapy Program). This program aims to strengthen Translational Research on these new treatments, and accelerate the Clinical Development of Immunotherapy, in order to facilitate access to these treatments to a larger number of patients.