{"id":9079,"date":"2026-10-19T13:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/19\/south-carolina-lawmakers-must-protect-research-that-helped-make-cancer-history\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T13:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:42:15","slug":"south-carolina-lawmakers-must-protect-research-that-helped-make-cancer-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/19\/south-carolina-lawmakers-must-protect-research-that-helped-make-cancer-history\/","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina Lawmakers Must Protect Research That Helped Make Cancer History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soon, South Carolinians will elect a new governor and members of the legislature. These leaders will dictate the future of our state&rsquo;s medical research, which is saving lives and creating jobs here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, MUSC Hollings Cancer Center recently played a role in a major medical breakthrough.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In August, a first-of-its-kind personalized mRNA treatment <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-026-02612-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">proved effective<\/a>&nbsp;at keeping melanoma&nbsp;from coming back after surgery. Patients who received the treatment were less likely to see their cancer return. Hollings was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.musc.edu\/content-hub\/News\/2025\/10\/16\/A-personalized-shot-at-stopping-cancer-from-coming-back\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trial site<\/a>&nbsp;that contributed to the research behind this breakthrough. Thanks to South Carolina researchers and patients, cutting-edge cancer vaccines moved closer to reality<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">mRNA technology made the melanoma vaccine possible. One <a href=\"https:\/\/www.musc.edu\/content-hub\/News\/2025\/10\/16\/A-personalized-shot-at-stopping-cancer-from-coming-back\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MUSC oncologist compares<\/a>&nbsp;it to &ldquo;handing the immune system a wanted poster&rdquo; because mRNA trains the body to hunt down any cancer cells left behind. And life sciences research also strengthens our economy by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scbio.org\/scbio-unveils-new-economic-impact-report-showing-life-sciences-contributes-20-1-billion-annually-to-south-carolinas-economy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$20.1 billion<\/a>, supports more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scbio.org\/scbio-unveils-new-economic-impact-report-showing-life-sciences-contributes-20-1-billion-annually-to-south-carolinas-economy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">60,000 jobs<\/a>, and generates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scbio.org\/scbio-unveils-new-economic-impact-report-showing-life-sciences-contributes-20-1-billion-annually-to-south-carolinas-economy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$5.4 billion<\/a>&nbsp;in annual wages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, mRNA remains a political target. Last legislative session, South Carolina lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scstatehouse.gov\/sess126_2025-2026\/bills\/4262.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">filed<\/a>&nbsp;legislation that would suspend the licenses of doctors who administer certain mRNA treatments. Bans or restrictions on mRNA would halt all research at Hollings, jeopardizing the potential for additional mRNA-based treatments that offer hope to patients fighting cancers or other deadly diseases.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This November, let&rsquo;s&nbsp;support candidates&nbsp;who embrace mRNA research. Sick patients in South Carolina deserve every treatment available, and our economy cannot afford for this important industry to disappear.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hunter Sox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soon, South Carolinians will elect a new governor and members of the legislature. These leaders will dictate the future of our state&rsquo;s medical research, which is saving lives and creating jobs here. For example, MUSC Hollings Cancer Center recently played a role in a major medical breakthrough.&nbsp; In August, a<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/19\/south-carolina-lawmakers-must-protect-research-that-helped-make-cancer-history\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39],"tags":[127],"class_list":["entry","author-john-griggs","post-9079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-letter-to-editor","tag-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9079\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}