Anktiva is a new approach to curing cancer. It words by supercharging the immune system’s natural killer (NK) cells that destroy “enemy” cells. In fact, it is already approved to treat non-invasive bladder cancer (has not spread).

Anktiva is different from chemotherapy drugs. Instead of using a chemical agent that is lethal to cancer cells, it harnesses the immune system’s killer specialists to seek and destroy cancer cells.

Anktiva was developed by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. It differs from conventional chemotherapy, to which Dr. Soon-Shiong is no stranger. As a medical researcher and transplant surgeon, he developed Abraxane, a chemotherapy used to treat metastatic pancreatic cancer. In 2005, the FDA approved it. When Dr. Soon-Chiong he sold his company in 2010 he became a billionaire.

He did not stop there. Now in his early 70s, his goal is to cure all cancer. According to a Nov. 27, 2025 news article, “He believes the key lies in natural killer cells — immune system soldiers that can destroy cancer, tuberculosis, HIV and COVID if properly activated. The problem, he argues, is that chemotherapy and radiation kill these protective cells along with tumors.”

Anktiva and bladder cancer

Dr. Soon-Shiong’s new drug takes advantage of the body’s NK cells. NK cells are fast acting and destroy abnormal cells that could pose danger to the body, such as viruses or cancer cells—but remember that conventional chemotherapy not only kills cancer cells but it kills off many of the NK cells.

Dr. Soon-Shiong designed Anktiva to supercharge NK cells so they are stronger, better able to identify cancer cells, and destroy them—all with fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy. After a clinical trial testing Anktiva on 88 patients with noninvasive bladder cancer, in 2024 the FDA approved the application of Anktiva for this type of cancer based on durable complete response rates.

A future for Anktiva with prostate cancer?

Dr. Soon-Shiong is now taking Anktiva further. He developed a treatment step to protect not only NK cells, but also the immune system’s T cells. These immune system components can be programmed to recognize and remember specific cancer cell markers. Since their “learning” process takes time, they are slower to act than NK cells, but they become very precise in selectively targeting cancer cells, destroying any that were missed by the more generalist NK cells.

There are a couple of steps to this new protocol, which could theoretically be effective across many cancers. First, a blood draw is used to harvest a patient’s own NK cells. The NK cells are then treated with fortified Anktiva and frozen. When thawed, they are slowly infused into the patient’s vein so they circulate throughout the body. As these activated cells encounter enemy cancer cells, they get right to work and quickly destroy them.

At the April 2025 American Urological Association (AUA) meeting in Las Vegas, Dr. Soon-Shiong presented what he called the “Triangle Offense” as the basis for a new clinical trial (not yet recruiting, as of this writing). It will enroll high-risk prostate cancer patients who are not candidates for radiation and/or hormone therapy. The trial will test the effect of the latest Anktiva treatment protocol. Dr. Soon-Shiong is optimistic in terms of its impact against prostate cancer.

A future for Anktiva beyond prostate cancer?

Dr. Soon-Shiong believes Anktiva has tremendous potential against a broad range of cancers. However, he is frustrated over the FDA’s clinical testing requirements, which would ultimately take many years to test each cancer separately.

In addition, there are many skeptics who take issue with the glowing testimonials of cancer patients who destroying any claim Dr. Soon-Shiong’s Anktiva cured their various cancers (or at least drove them into remission). It is legal for Dr. Soon-Shiong to use Anktiva for other cancers, since that is an “off label” use of an approved drug. However, all those other treatments were not done within an FDA-sanctioned clinical trial. Thus, Dr. Soon-Shiong is depicted by his detractors as a promoter without proof.

Patience is required

Dr. Soon-Shiong is the subject of TV news stories and other videos. The word is getting out that he has a potential breakthrough in a more universal, non-chemotherapy approach to curing cancers—even metastatic cancers–like pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, etc. using the body’s own defenses. Dr. Soon-Shiong believes we are really close to such a day. Time (and FDA-sanctioned research) will tell.

All of us at the Sperling Prostate Center embrace the hope that Dr. Soon-Shiong, and others like him, are hastening that day to arrive. Much patience is needed, but it’s good to know that each stepping stone of progress brings us closer to the worthy goal of a cancer cure-all.

NOTE: This content is solely for purposes of information and does not substitute for diagnostic or medical advice. Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing pelvic pain, or have any other health concerns or questions of a personal medical nature.