Dr. Serhat Gumrukcu of Seraph Research Institute On The 5 Things Everyone Needs To Know About Cancer
An Interview With Savio P. Clemente
A person dealing with cancer goes through different stages of grief. These are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The answer to this question is again tied to my previous answer. We have to listen… So that we can understand at which stage they are in their process. Then we can offer our support depending on where they are.
Cancer is a horrible and terrifying disease. There is so much great information out there, but sometimes it is very difficult to filter out the noise. What causes cancer? Can it be prevented? How do you detect it? What are the odds of survival today? What are the different forms of cancer? What are the best treatments? And what is the best way to support someone impacted by cancer?
In this interview series called, “5 Things Everyone Needs To Know About Cancer” we are talking to experts about cancer such as oncologists, researchers, and medical directors to address these questions. As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Serhat Gumrukcu.
Dr. Serhat Gumrukcu is well respected within the medical scientific community for his cutting-edge research in cancer and infectious diseases including HIV, Hepatitis B, and influenza. He is the Executive Director and Director of Translational Research at the Seraph Research Institute (SRI) based in Los Angeles, California. He is also a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), International AIDS Society (IAS), HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), and American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) where he serves on the Cancer Cell & Gene Therapy Committee and Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Committee.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I grew up in a loving family, brought up by my parents who are in government service. My mother is an artist. Growing up in art gave me a different perspective to science in general. I was taught that an artist has to know many disciplines of science like physics, chemistry, biology, anatomy, mathematics, geometry, etc… in order to create art. So, it helped me gain a perspective of creating things using my imagination and creativity.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
Since I was 2–3 years old, I was very passionate about two things: easing human suffering and solving puzzles. Those two passions let me to be physician and a scientist who pursues diseases that are believed to be incurable.
This is not easy work. What is your primary motivation and drive behind the work that you do?
My primary motivation behind the work I do is to ease suffering of my fellow human beings. I do not believe there are any problems that are unsolvable, so I try to find solutions to those problems that people have given up on. What drives me is knowing that I can change or better the lives of people who were told that they are beyond help. It is about making a difference. I believe the purpose of my life is to make a difference in people’s lives and in the world for better. I should be able to say — “the world is a better place with me in it.”
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
I have so many projects underway I don’t even know where to begin. We’re developing multiple types of cancer vaccines for people who are in advanced stages of cancer to teach their immune system to control the disease without the need of continuous anti-cancer treatments. I also recently wrote a book chapter on cell therapies and advanced stages of cancer which summarizes my view on approaching cancer in a way that would change the standard of care and life expectancy of millions of people in the future. We do need a paradigm shift with regards to cancer care, and I believe we are on the brink of it.
For the benefit of our readers, can you briefly let us know why you are an authority about the topic of Cancer?
I cannot claim to be an authority. I am a man of science, which means I am perpetually a student of knowledge. I learn from my fellow scientists and other physicians, and more than that I learn from all the patients I encounter. Science is not about being an authority or knowing everything. It is about understanding how things work so that you can use the knowledge with the understanding you have and find answers to questions that we’ve not answered before. I am very fortunate to have had an incredible education in several different institutions around the world and mentors who are considered leaders in the field of cancer and cell therapies.
Ok, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Let’s start with some basic definitions so that we are all on the same page. What is cancer exactly?
Cancer is a group of diseases that begins from a single rouge cell. This malignant cell grows uncontrollably thereby interfering with the normal tissue growth and eventually spreading to neighboring tissues by evading the immune system’s surveillance. It grows, because the patient’s immune system does not recognize the cancer as cancer. Essentially, cancer is actually a disease of the immune system.
What causes cancer?
Multitude of things can cause cancer. Genetic factors, environmental factors, even psychological and emotional factors… Every person constantly generates cancer cells. There is no such thing as a cancer-free person. We produce thousands of cancer cells every hour and our immune system –whose job is to constantly survey and destroy anything that is out of order — kills them. Cancer as a disease happens when one single cell finds a way to evade the immune surveillance. One cell becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight, and so on…
What is the difference between the different forms of cancer?
The difference between different forms of cancer is the type of cell where it begins. For example, cancer that begins in epithelial cells is carcinoma, while one that begins in bone and soft tissues is called sarcoma and the cancer of bone marrow or blood cells are called leukemia or myeloma. A cancer cell is a changed unhealthy cell that used to be healthy. Differences in types of cancers come from the difference in the originating cell.
I know that the next few questions are huge topics, but we’d love to hear your thoughts regardless. How can cancer be prevented?
There is a long answer to this question and then there is a short answer to it as well. I prefer the short answer. To understand that, we have to go back to one of the main principles about cancer that I mentioned before. There is no such thing as a cancer-free person and the reason that not everybody develops cancer is because our immune systems are keeping the growth of those cancer cells under control. So, avoiding cancer requires someone to avoid cancer-causing things like smoking, radiation, carcinogenic chemicals, etc., but the most important thing is also making sure our immune system is functioning properly because at the end of the day, it is not about the cancer cells we produce in our bodies, it is more about whether or not our immune system is able to get rid of those cells.
How can one detect the main forms of cancer?
There are various diagnostic methods out there that can detect cancer at an early stage in a symptomatic patient. But of course routine screening in risk populations is also very important. Generally speaking, if the person is having symptoms that led to the diagnosis of cancer, it means the disease has already advanced significantly.
Cancer used to almost be a death sentence, but it seems that it has changed today. What are the odds of surviving cancer today?
With the changing dynamics in cancer diagnostics and the approach to cancer treatment, patients are not only getting an opportunity to have long-term remission, they are also getting a chance at a progression-free survival. In conventional approach to cancer therapies in different stages, we aim for different outcomes. If we catch a patient at an earlier stage, we try to put them in remission where we don’t see any visible tumors or cancer cells and then keep the patient at that state. At later stages, the goal is a little different. The easiest way to explain this is what I tell most of the patients I encounter: “We’ll try to make sure you die with cancer, but not from cancer.”
Can you share some of the new cutting-edge treatments for cancer that have recently emerged? What new cancer treatment innovations are you most excited to see come to fruition in the near future?
Adoptive cell therapies would be one of the new cutting-edge treatments. When applied at the right time throughout the course of cancer treatment, it can offer patients a much better opportunity to have long-term remission even at the later stages of cancer. This is exactly what we discuss in the book we wrote recently. The future of cancer treatment is in cell-based immunotherapies and treatments that focus on the patient’s ability to fight and control the disease by themselves.
Healing usually takes place between doctor visits. What have you found to be most beneficial to assist a patient to heal?
The most important thing a physician can do for a patient is to listen to them. If you listen, the patient tells you everything. What is wrong with them, what is happening in their body, how the treatment is working, etc… Unfortunately, we are not taught this in medical schools. Patients want and need to be heard and understood. When they feel that you are hearing them and taking their words into account while you are devising their treatment plans, they know they are contributing to their own healing process, which makes the process very powerful. There is a quote by Hippocrates that says “we don’t treat diseases, we treat patients.” The disease is a part of the patient, we have to always remember that. Thus, the patient has to also be part of the cure.
From your experience, what are a few of the best ways to support a loved one, friend, or colleague who is impacted by cancer?
A person dealing with cancer goes through different stages of grief. These are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The answer to this question is again tied to my previous answer. We have to listen… So that we can understand at which stage they are in their process. Then we can offer our support depending on where they are.
What are a few of the biggest misconceptions and myths out there about fighting cancer that you would like to dispel?
There are so many. This question could be a separate interview by itself. The most important thing we have to understand is that is takes a village. Unfortunately, care providers can get caught up in their own stories and forget that everybody around the patient is working toward the same goal. A cancer patient’s care requires surgeons, oncologists, internists, psychologists, family members and many other support systems. Not only the patients, but also — especially, the doctors have to remember that we are not alone in this and we can’t succeed by ourselves.
Thank you so much for all of that. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experiences and knowledge, what are your “5 Things Everyone Needs To Know About Cancer? Please share a story or example for each.
I wish I could give you 5 things, but I think the approach to cancer is simpler than that. I’ll give you three, each of which I have already elaborated on in my previous answers
- Cancer starts with one cell that has the ability to evade the immune system’s surveillance.
- There is no such thing as cancer-free person. Achieving success in cancer treatment is not about trying to make the person cancer-free, because that is not possible.
- Achieving a cure or life-long remission relies on recruiting the patient’s immune system to the fight against cancer.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Whatever you do, lead with love and never forget that it is not about us. I am not here for me, I am here for all of humanity.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
They can follow the work we do at our non-profit research institution Seraph Research Institute and also the biotech company I founded in 2016 — Enochian Biosciences.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
