Delivering the ‘Dr. S. Krishnamurthi Memorial Oration’ recently, Christian Hermann Heinrich Ottensmeier, Director of Clinical Research, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, and professor of immuno-oncology, University of Liverpool, U.K., stressed the significance of vaccination for patients with cancer.

‘Promising results’

Cancer vaccines using different modalities administered to the right patient population was likely to provide promising results, Dr. Ottensmeier said.

He also said that classifying the cancer accurately, based on the immune profile or status, would allow choosing the right combination of cancer vaccines for the right patient.

Oration delivered

He delivered an oration on ‘Cancer Vaccines and Stratified Medicine: Towards Rational Decision Making in Immunotherapy for Patient Benefit’.

Dr. Ottensmeier further said a promising collaboration had been proposed with the Cancer Institute (WIA) Adyar, to initiate cancer vaccine trials, primarily focusing on head and neck cancers, according to a press release.

Jointly organised

The oration was jointly organised by the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University and the Cancer Institute in remembrance of Dr. Krishnamurthi, who was an adviser of the latter.

Vijayanand Pandurangan, Professor, Division of Vaccine Discovery at La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, California; Kalpana Balakrishnan, chief executive officer and medical director, Cancer Institute; K. Narayanasamy, Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University; K. Sivasangeetha, the university’s Registrar; and D. Balanaganandhini, dean of students at the university, were among those who were present at the oration.