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Rep. Khanna hails Indian-origin doctor’s potential cancer cure
Khanna described the results as an “incredible achievement” and representative of the “best of America.”
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Tue, 21, Apr 2026
- 02:05 EDT
- 40
Dr. Vinod Balachandran and Congressman Ro Khanna / Wikimedia commons and Vinod Balachandran via LinkedIn
Dr. Vinod Balachandran, the founding director of the Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, received a shoutout from Congressman Ro Khanna for his personalized vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA) to prevent pancreatic cancer from returning after surgery showed promise in a small, 16-person patient group.
Khanna described the results as an “incredible achievement” and representative of the “best of America,” highlighting how the findings offer hope for patients suffering from a disease that is “often a death sentence.”
Follow-up results from a Phase 1 clinical trial showed that nearly 90 percent of people whose immune systems responded to the vaccine were still alive up to six years after receiving the last treatment.
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The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is around 13 percent, according to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics 2026 report.
Talking about the research, Khanna said, “Dr. Balachandran, a son of Indian immigrants, has developed an mRNA vaccine that may be a treatment. It has had incredible results in early intervention. And he has done it working with the Sloan Kettering Research Institute, one of the best research institutions for cancer in the world.”
Highlighting Dr. Balachandran’s immigrant identity, Rep. Khanna continued, “When we think about what makes us proud to be Americans, it is sons and daughters of immigrants like Dr. Balachandran and world-class research institutions. That is what we should be supporting to continue to make contributions to humanity.”
Talking about what the results mean, Dr. Balachandran said in a statement, “These early results show this new immunotherapy approach has the potential to make a difference for one of the deadliest cancers.”
He continued, “The latest data from this small study suggest vaccines can meaningfully stimulate the immune system in some patients with pancreatic cancer — and these patients continue to do well years after vaccination.”
A good news story about the best of America.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) April 20, 2026
Dr. Balachandran has a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer working with Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. pic.twitter.com/93M6llufk4
Indian-origin physician Dr. Balachandran holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Cornell University and an MD from the Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine.
After being associated with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for over a decade, Dr. Balachandran became the founding director of the Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at the Kettering Center.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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