701,377 views Jul 10, 2025
Megyn Kelly is joined by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, to discuss a breakthrough showing our body’s “natural kill cell” can be activated and fighting cancer from within, why this could completely rethink how we treat cancer, and more.
The “natural killer cell” (often shortened to NK cell) is a special type of white blood cell that’s part of our innate immune system — the body’s first line of defense against infections and cancer. Scientists have known about NK cells for decades, but recent discoveries have deepened our understanding of how powerful they can be against cancer.
Here’s a quick overview:
🧬 What Are Natural Killer (NK) Cells?
- They are a type of lymphocyte, similar to T-cells and B-cells, but they act much faster.
- NK cells can detect and destroy abnormal cells — such as virus-infected or cancerous cells — without needing prior exposure or “training.”
- They release enzymes called perforin and granzymes, which punch holes in the target cell’s membrane and trigger it to self-destruct (apoptosis).
🔬 Recent Cancer Research Highlights
- Scientists have discovered “super” NK cells or memory-like NK cells that can remember and more effectively attack cancer cells.
- New therapies are being developed to boost or engineer NK cells, such as:
- CAR-NK therapy (similar to CAR-T, but with NK cells).
- NK cell infusions using cells from donors.
- Cytokine treatments (like IL-15) that enhance NK activity.
- These therapies are showing promise in blood cancers (like leukemia and lymphoma) and some solid tumors.
🌿 Why It Matters
This discovery strengthens the idea that our body already has natural cancer-fighting potential, and medicine is learning how to amplify it. Unlike some treatments, NK-based therapies may cause fewer side effects and be used in combination with existing drugs.
👨⚕️ Biography
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong is a South African–American surgeon, scientist, and entrepreneur, best known for his pioneering work in cancer treatment, immunotherapy, and biotechnology, as well as for developing Abraxane, a widely used chemotherapy drug.
Full name: Patrick Soon-Shiong
Born: July 29, 1952, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Education:
Medical degree (MBChB) from the University of the Witwatersrand
Surgical training at UCLA and University of British Columbia
Board-certified surgeon and former faculty member at UCLA Medical School
Current roles:
Founder of NantWorks, a network of health, biotech, and AI companies Owner of ImmunityBio, a biotech company focused on immunotherapy. Former owner of the Los Angeles Times (sold in 2024)
💊 Major Medical Contributions
- Invented Abraxane, a nanoparticle form of the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (Taxol).
- Abraxane delivers chemo more effectively with fewer side effects.
- Approved for breast, lung, and pancreatic cancers.
- Founded Abraxis BioScience, which developed Abraxane and was sold to Celgene in 2010 for about $4.5 billion.
- His research focuses on using the immune system to attack cancer, particularly through natural killer (NK) cells and T-cell activation.
- He has funded and led several “Cancer Moonshot”–style projects to integrate genomics, AI, and immunotherapy in personalized medicine.
🧬 NK Cell & Cancer Immunity Work
Dr. Soon-Shiong has been one of the key advocates for “natural killer cell–based cancer therapy.”
- Through ImmunityBio, he’s developed NK-92 cell lines and NantKwest (a company later merged into ImmunityBio).
- These therapies aim to enhance the body’s own immune cells to identify and destroy tumor cells.
- ImmunityBio’s treatments are being tested for cancers such as bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer.
- In 2023–2024, some of his trials showed promising results in patients with advanced cancers resistant to other treatments.
💡 Vision
Dr. Soon-Shiong’s long-term vision is to end cancer as a fatal disease by:
- Combining genomic data, AI diagnostics, and immune-based therapy.
- Creating a “cancer-fighting ecosystem” — where technology helps doctors match the right immune treatment to each patient’s tumor.
Source from: Youtube channel: Megyn Kelly — 4.05M subscribers