Amazing breakthrough. Bernice Pereira Sent from my iPhone
> On 22-Jun-2019, at 11:56 PM, Goanet Reader <goanetrea...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Meet Roy de Souza, the tech entrepreneur who turned a personal crisis into > a war against cancer > > The engineer from University of > Oxford started evaluating the > possibility of building a > company that provides > end-to-end platform bringing > data scientists, immunologists > and immunotherapists, under a > single roof and give them > necessary tools to build > vaccines to treat advanced > stages of colon cancer. > > Viswanath Pilla > @viswanath_pilla > MoneyControl.com > > For 48-year-old Roy de Souza, life was fantastic on both > professional and personal fronts. Coming from a Goan family > of doctors that prized education, de Souza didn't disappoint. > > He attained a master's degree in Engineering from > the University of Oxford and an MBA from Kellogg > Business School. In 1999, he plunged into the > world of startups and founded ZEDO, a digital > advertising technology company in Silicon Valley. > > ZEDO, which manages and runs digital ad campaigns for > advertisers and helps publishers monetise their assets, has > emerged as one of the world's largest internet advertising > technology firms. > > Meanwhile, on the personal front, de Souza built a cosy home > in Mumbai and lives with his wife and three children, and > everything was smooth sailing until calamity struck. > > One late evening in April 2017, while the couple were > partying at a friend's home in South Mumbai, his wife > complained of severe stomach ache and was taken to the > hospital. The doctor suspected kidney stones and ordered a > CT scan. > > "I spotted a shadow-like thing on the liver, but when I asked > them, 'what is this?' They wouldn't tell me," de Souza told > Moneycontrol. > > De Souza's worst fears came true and his wife, who > was in her 40s at the time, and felt perfectly > healthy until a few days before the incident, was > diagnosed with what is scientifically termed as > metastatic colon cancer. In its advanced stage and > aggressively spreading beyond the liver, the > disease has a survival rate below 15 percent. > > Fight against cancer > > On the advice of a doctor friend, the de Souzas immediately > flew to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New > York to consult Dr Nancy E Kemeny, a medical oncologist who > specialises in metastatic colon cancer that has spread to the > liver. > > Dr Kemeny is famous for pioneering the hepatic arterial > infusion (HAI) pump -- a way to pump high strength chemo > directly into the liver and it has fantastic results. > > Founded in 1884, the center is consistently ranked among the > world's best cancer hospital. > > An appointment with Kemeny is not easy and the slots are > filled months in advance. Add to that the fact that she only > treats patients that fall within her specialisation of colon > cancer which has spread to the liver. > > Despite the challenges, de Souza's wife remained strong and > composed. The perseverance paid-off and after days of > effort, he was assured of an appointment with Dr Kemeny. > > Keeping her word, Dr Kemeny began chemotherapy immediately > and thankfully the patient responded well. For perspective, > only 50 percent of patients with metastatic colon cancer > respond to treatment. > > But Roy didn't remain the same since then. > > "You look at it, there is a big possibility that > she is not going to be around. I am going to be > here with the kids on my own. And she is good with > the children. I'm not so good. Children like to > be with their mother, there is a bond and I don't > think I can replace that," de Souza said with > almost tears in his eyes. > > Chemotherapy can prolong a patient's life by > killing harmful cancer cells with a cocktail of > toxic drugs, but it doesn’t cure cancer. De Souza > thus made up his mind and decided to do whatever it > takes to save his wife. That meant dedicating the > rest of his life to find a cure for metastatic > colon cancer. > > He started with reading textbooks and research material on > cancer. "I started thinking, well why can't we kill (this > cancer), we have the technology, we have drugs, these are > living cells, we got to get something to go in there and kill > the cells. And after about six months, I learnt that there > was nothing available. That's when I started looking at > other cancers, what worked to end other cancers? What is the > latest thinking?" de Souza pondered. > > While scouring for possible treatments that could cure his > wife, de Souza stumbled across promising results of > personalised vaccines in treating melanoma, a type of skin > cancer. > > New hope -- personalised vaccines > > According to research, our body's immune system > acts as a natural defence against cancer, opening > up the feasibility of using vaccines to treat the > disease. But it isn't as simple as it sounds. > > For instance, much of the polio disease is caused by three > types of poliovirus and it was relatively easy to come out > with a vaccine covering the three strains. > > However, in the case of cancer, where the cells mutate > aggressively, designing and developing vaccines is a more > daunting task. Add to that the fact that every tumour is > unique in terms of composition of mutations, and only a small > fraction was similar in patients. > > This made it inevitable that the cure would have to be a > personalised therapeutic vaccine or a vaccine custom-made for > a particular person's tumour. > > Even as the efficacy and financial feasibility of a > personalised vaccine are debated, the scientific and > technological advances in genomics, data science, and cancer > immunotherapy, have enabled instant mapping of the mutations > within a genome, selection of vaccine targets, and on-demand > production of therapy customised to a patient's individual > tumour. > > De Souza started making calls to renowned cancer > institutes to develop a vaccine for his wife's > cancer. Data scientists, immunologists and > immunotherapists at five institutes -- the Mount > Sinai Medical Center, New York; the Dana Farber > Cancer Institute, Boston; and the MD Anderson > Cancer Center, Houston, University of California > San Diego and La Jolla Institute for Immunology > were willing to help. > > De Souza also found a partner with a brilliant scientist > Devabhaktuni Srikrishna from California. > > Using their generous advice and his technology experience, > Roy was able to get a personalized vaccine designed for his > wife. > > After finishing the data analysis, de Souza finally > moved to a big cancer research hospital in Germany, > where the vaccine was manufactured and > administered. This was done as US laws do not > allow vaccines to be administered unless the drug > is approved by the USFDA. > > "In Germany, we paid to see the doctor and paid a company to > manufacture the vaccine. We were not charged by the > hospital, because it's part of their research they do not > charge for the actual vaccine. Fortunately, many people make > donations to help them fund research," de Souza revealed. > > His wife has so far received three vaccine shots -- one each > in November and December 2018, and one in January 2019. De > Souza said that his wife is now doing well. There is no > growth of cancer so far, but she may need further vaccination > in another six months. > > BreakBio > > The experience has moved de Souza and he is now > determined to ensure that other patients do not > have to repeat the entire process he underwent. > Given his entrepreneurial bent of mind, he started > evaluating the possibility of building a company > that provides an end-to-end platform bringing data > scientists, immunologists and immunotherapists, > under a single roof and give them necessary tools > to build those vaccines to treat advanced stages of > colon cancer. > > That idea led him to found BreakBio. He already has a > renowned doctor on board and is now in the process of > bringing the right people together to launch operations from > Boston. Once everything is set, he plans to approach > investors for funding. > > But de Souza knows he is embarking on a difficult journey > that would need him to wade through a maze of scientific and > regulatory clearances, where millions of dollars of capital > will be needed to come up with an effective treatment > platform to save the lives of millions of people. > > (A few changes were made to the article to remove certain > personal details in the interest of sensitivity to the > individuals and topics mentioned in the story.) > > Subscribe to Moneycontrol Pro and gain access to curated > markets data, exclusive trading recommendations, independent > equity analysis, actionable investment ideas, nuanced takes > on macro, corporate and policy actions, practical insights > from market gurus and much more. > > https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/health-trends/roy-de-souza-a-tech-entrepreneur-who-wants-to-crack-frontiers-in-cancer-treatment-4116511.html