FDA Warns About Anktiva's "Cancer Cure" Claims—Here's Why?

This “cancer cure” claim triggered an FDA warning—here’s the real science. #Anktiva #DrPatrickSoon-Shiong #Dr.PatrickSoon-Shiong

👉 Get your free guide, '10 Things to Elevate Your Chemo Journey'

👉 Want personalized attention to help you along your individual cancer journey? Explore 1:1 sessions with Dr. Chaplin

👉 Want to find out more about Dr. Chaplin's journey of bringing a cancer drug to market? Explore his innovations

--------------------------------------------
Episode Description:

You’ve probably seen it.

A cancer treatment breakthrough…

A “one-shot cure”…
A drug that supposedly works for all cancers.

What is it? It’s Anktiva....AGAIN!

And now the FDA has stepped in.

In this breakdown, Dr. Chaplin walks through:
• what Anktiva actually does in the body
• why it can work—but only in specific cases
• and where the claims completely fall apart

This isn’t about dismissing new treatments. 

It’s about understanding when they actually work—and when they don’t so you don't waste precious time and resources on something that can't help.

--------------------------------------------

Inquiries: 

info@elevatingcancertreatment.com

https://elevatingcancertreatment.com

--------------------------------------------

Disclaimer:
The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only, and does not constitute medical advice. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard or read in this podcast or on this channel.
Reliance on any information provided by Dr. Jay Chaplin or Elevating Cancer Treatment is solely at your own risk. Dr. Jay Chaplin is a scientist and drug developer, not a medical doctor providing patient care. The content presented here reflects general scientific understanding and research, and may not be applicable to your individual health circumstances. Individual medical conditions and treatments vary, and no two situations are exactly alike.
Always consult with your personal healthcare provider before making any decisions about your health or treatment plan.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Why stop at one problem when you can solve your entire existence? So what happens when a biotech company lies about a cancer drug? Not hypothetically, not maybe not stretching the truth a bit. I'm talking FDA warning letter, stock drop, a whole lot of people getting misled. Yeah. This has been going on for a while now and the hammer just dropped. Is there an actual problem with immunity bios marketing? Or is this a big pharma conspiracy to suppress a game-changing cancer drug? You probably already know my thoughts about that. Hello, and welcome to Elevating Cancer Treatment, where we explain the science and debunk myths to help you navigate your health journey. My background is a little different. Beyond educating about cancer, I'm actually designing new drugs that are defining the future of oncology. This direct hands-on experience offers me a very different perspective of how these cancer treatments work on the body, interact with the cancer cells, and cause side effects. And these are insights that I'm excited to share with you. If that sounds interesting, make sure to like this video, subscribe to the channel, and hit that notification bell so you never miss an update. And please share it if you find it useful. I'm Dr. Jay Chaplin. An important reminder, I'm a PhD, not an MD. The information in this video is education and it's not medical advice. Every cancer is unique and no general information applies to everyone. Please remember that. Always consult with your healthcare provider for guidance on your specific situation. And two quick things. First, as a thank you for being here, I've created a free resource, 10 things to elevate your chemo journey, which you can download from the link below. And second, by signing up, you'll also get updates on that innovative cancer treatment I'm working on. I'm confident it represents a significant advancement in immunotherapy. So please take a moment, download your free guide, and join us in shaping the future of cancer treatment. Two weeks ago, on March 13th, 2026, the FDA basically told a major biotech company, Stop! What you're saying is not true. And we're not talking about a small exaggeration or even a single type of lie. We're talking about at least three different kinds of claims that a drug can cure all cancers by itself in one dose, which, if it was true, would be the biggest breakthrough in human history. Spoiler, it's not. So we're talking about Anctiva again. Let's break this down really clearly because it matters and crazy stories are already flying across the internet. The drug, Anctiva, is interesting. I've personally worked with similar pathways in the lab. When used properly, interleukin-15-based stimulants like Anctiva are very potent. I've seen that firsthand, I've used them myself. There's real potential here. But what's being marketed and what the data actually shows are very, very different things. And here's why the FDA stepped in, and honestly, they had to. Okay, so claim number one. This works for all cancers. There's zero data supporting this. Not limited data, not early signals. This claim is completely made up out of thin air. And biologically, we already know that's not how this works. IL-15 mainly works through natural killer cells and neutrophils, and for those to work, you need a lack of human leukocyte antigen, HLA class 1. If a cancer is low or negative for HLA1, then this is a great approach. If that cancer has normal or high levels of HLA1, then NK cells can't work. And Anctiva would be both meaningless and wasted. But that's not all. Even if a cancer has lost all of its HLA1, that still doesn't mean that Anctiva alone can work well. If the cancer also expresses the checkpoint molecule PDL1, then Anctiva alone can't do the job. The PDL-1 will just kill off the NK cells. You'd need both Anctiva and a PD1, PDL1 blocker like Kicheruda or Opdevo. Many cancers should respond. Some absolutely can't. Many more would need both Anctiva and a checkpoint inhibitor to have any benefit. That's basic and inescapable immunology. To say otherwise is a lie. Another basic fact: many cancers are cancers of the immune system, like chronic neutrophilic leukemia or NKT cell lymphoma, or aggressive NK cell leukemia, and blastic NK cell lymphoma. All of those would be made much, much worse by NCAV, as it would cause the cancer itself to grow out of control. It wouldn't treat it, it would expand it. Clearly, NCA can't be beneficial for all cancers if it makes some of them grow and spread like wildfire. Okay. Claim two, one vial cures cancer by itself. This one is wild to hear. The marketing makes it sound like one injection, or as Patrick Sun Shang says, one little vial, and cancer's gone right off into the sunset. Except their own clinical trial data showed it didn't work alone. In fact, the solo treatment arm for their bladder cancer treatment was stopped early for futility. What does that mean? It basically did nothing, no significant impact by itself. And that's with repeated weekly dosing. So, no, not single dose and not effective by itself, according to their own data. The only time it showed benefit? In combination with another therapy. In the bladder cancer case, that's BCG. You can see that in the current clinical trials. They are all in combination with other therapies, and Tiva isn't even being tested by itself for any cancers. We talked about that here. The only trial like that was the one that was stopped early because the efficacy was so poor there was no point in continuing. So, yeah, complete mismatch between reality and marketing, which is a fancy way of saying that's a lie. Claim number three. It's basically a cancer vaccine. It's crazier. The claim is that this drug can both prevent cancer if you give it ahead of time, like a vaccine. Patrick even calls it that, and then stop the cancer from ever coming back. That sounds amazing, right? Everyone should take it. One small issue: that requires immune memory. Like when you take a measles vaccine, it trains your T cells and your immune system remembers it forever. Those memory T cells live for at least 60 years, likely longer, giving you lifelong protection. This drug, it doesn't work through T cells. It works through natural killer cells, which last a few weeks, maybe a month. I know there's a claim that Anctiva also works on T cells, but Immunity Bio's own clinical trial data, again, show that it has no impact on T cell numbers or function. So this also fits with their dosing. Anctiva has to be redosed every one to three weeks in order to continue having an effect. There is no long-term memory, there's no lasting protection. So calling it a vaccine, a thing that creates permanent memory and protection from disease, that's not just optimistic, it's flat out incorrect. The opposite is true. This is an acute treatment. It's great in the moment, but with no longevity, as proved by their own data and dosing regimen. Why does this matter? This is not just a technical debate or overreach by big pharma trying to suppress the underdog. This is exactly why the FDA exists. Exactly. Back in the early 1900s, companies were literally selling cure-all bottles of what we euphemistically now call patent medicines, also known as snake oil. No ingredients listed, no evidence, take whatever you have on hand, mix it up, bottle it, and claim whatever you want. Let people decide what they like and trust by trying everything. You know, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Good. Just vibes and marketing. One classic sign of a shady miracle cure is the bold promise to fix literally everything wrong with you. Because why stop at one problem when you can solve your entire existence? Take Cascaray's candy cathartic, for example. According to them, this magical candy could cure constipation, sunstroke, heartburn, colds, bad breath, appendicitis, ulcers, eczema, and headaches, and presumably your bad luck and questionable life choices, too. In reality, the main ingredient was senna, a laxative that's still used today. So yes, cascaray did work, just not for the other 47 things on their wish list. It turns out it could only cure the first problem on the list, while the rest just had to sit there and wait their turn for blind luck. So, takeaway, if something claims to cure everything, it's probably just a laxative. That's also how we got drugs like Pizo's Cure for Consumption. Or Pizos for short. It was one of the most popular patent medicines and one of the cheapest. This concoction supposedly cured tuberculosis and any other kind of cough or respiratory problem. But it was made from cannabis, chloroform, opium, and alcohol. It relieved symptoms in the short run, in the moment, but it made it so hard to breathe chronically that it actually sped up death. And it made you addicted if you didn't outright die. This stuff had a specific marketing campaign for kids. The Great American Fraud, a series of articles by Samuel Hopkins Adams for Collier's Weekly back in 1905, famously singled out Piso's cure for its false claims and harmful ingredients, and that helped drive the push for regulation. What regulation? The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was created for this. And it says you can only claim what your data actually proves, and you have to prove that your drug works before you can market it. That's why drugs have to be approved for something, for a specific disease, or for a biomarker. Now, as I said before, all Immunity Bio has to do to resolve most of this is to release an approved companion diagnostic for HLA class 1 on tumors and prove that it works in those situations, which it should. Then the approval isn't for a specific cancer like bladder cancer anymore, but it's for any cancer with low or absent HLA class 1 expression. But again, they didn't do that. And here we are, 120 years later, dealing with the exact same behavior and problem again, because Anctiva supposedly cures and prevents all cancers, as well as infectious disease in general, HIV and long COVID specifically, and many others. Here's the honest truth: Anctiva is probably a very good drug in the right context, used in the right way. Probably as a combination therapy, and with proper patient selection. But that's not at all what's being sold. What's being sold is a permanent miracle cure for everything. One shot for pretty much any immune system disease or cancer. And that's where the line gets crossed. Honestly, watching this whole situation unfold, it feels like watching a circus clown car, except the clown car is on fire and somehow still accelerating downhill and heading straight toward a hospital. People are gonna get hurt. As I said in the episode on immunity bios representation of their ongoing clinical trials, the development and marketing is bizarre and really over the top. I've never seen anything like this in my career. And sadly, many people will still interpret this FDA warning letter as evidence of suppressing a cancer cure without finding out about the basic issues in development and the biology of the drug. So, again, here's where we land. The FDA response, completely appropriate, honestly, kind of weak considering all. Claims from Immunity Bio not at all supported by their own data. The science being totally ignored for the marketing. And if you take one thing from this, please always look at the actual data, not the headlines. Because in medicine, getting this wrong isn't just embarrassing or costly, it can be dangerous. Beyond these videos, if you need more personalized guidance or a deeper dive into specific treatments to have your treatment be as effective as possible, I offer one-on-one sessions and medical advocacy. You can find information on our website, which is just linked down below. Again, if you found this video informative, please give it a thumbs up, click the notification bell, and subscribe to our channel for more science based cancer insights.