By Cindy H. Dubin
By the time President Richard M. Nixon signed the National Cancer Act into law on December 23, 1971, cancer had become the nation’s second leading cause of death; only about one of two people diagnosed with cancer survived at least 5 years—compared to two of three people diagnosed with the disease today.1 This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Act, and since that time, immune-based cancer therapy has proven a powerful clinical strategy, beginning with the discovery of immune-checkpoint inhibitors that changed the management of cancers once thought uncurable, including advanced melanoma and lung cancer, as well as improved overall survival in select patients with late-stage and refractory cancers.2