Renowned oncologist and Pulitzer Prize winning author Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee was in conversation with ThePrint Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta and managing director of Biocon Limited, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw in Bengaluru. Mukherjee spoke about the current state of cancer research, how it has grown over the past years, ethics surrounding field trials of new treatments, and the upcoming research into cellular therapy.
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
From left: Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief, ThePrint; Kiran Majumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon; Siddhartha Mukherjee, oncologist & author
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
A cancer expert, Siddhartha Mukherjee is the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, which won the 2011 Pulitzer prize for general non-fiction.
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
From left: Sharwari Shetye, manager of marketing & events, ThePrint; Omkar Bhattacharya, chief revenue officer, ThePrint; Alan Ironside, Ballantine’s brand ambassador – PR India
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
Intecrowd’s managing director Ravi Narayan asked the Mukherjee whether cell therapy is FDA approved and what is the success rate of patients.
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
“We can weaponise a cell by educating it to go kill cancer. Not all cancers are amenable to this. Blood cancers like leukaemia and lymphoma have had successes, while some ‘solid’ cancers such as pancreatic or lung cancer hasn’t shown success with this treatment,” said the biologist.
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
Dr. Sujata Kelkar Shetty, life coach & wellness consultant, asked: “Is there a plan to use Ayurvedic medicines as adjunct therapy to support the side effects expected from cell therapy in trials in India?”
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
“Scientists and medical researchers should communicate the marvel of vaccines every day to the public to remind them about how lives have been changed because of it,” said Mukherjee.
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
“What is the scientific consensus as well as your opinion on the use of marijuana and CBD to deal with the side-effects of cancer therapies?”
asked Sandhya Ramesh, senior assistant editor, ThePrint
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
“There is a lot of work being done in oncoimmunology. But the cost of delivering cutting-edge therapies is very high. It can go up to a million dollars and even the West cannot afford it,” said Kiran Majumdar Shaw (left).
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
From left: Shekhar Gupta, Kiran Majumdar Shaw; Vivek Banka, senior partner, IIFL Wealth, and Siddhartha Mukherjee
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
Siddhartha Mukherjee posed for a photograph with ThePrint team after the discussion.
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
Mukherjee also let the audience click selfies with him.
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
From left: Suman Puri, CEO, Just Travel Bangalore; Raj Himatsinghka
Off The Cuff with Siddhartha Mukherjee
Rekha Menon, Chairman & MD, Accenture, was happy to be at the event.
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