EP 73 – Rethinking Solid Tumor Treatment
June 16, 2025
Dave:
Hey everyone, Dave here with another episode of the Philly Tech Connect Podcast. Today I’m speaking with Dr. Karen Eisinger, a cancer researcher for over 20 years. She has been published in high-impact journals like Molecular Cell, Cancer Discovery, and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Before taking the helm as full-time CEO of SyzOnc in July 2024, she held the Anne B. Young Endowed Assistant Professorship in Cancer Biology at UPenn School of Medicine.
The laboratory was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Department of Defence, the State of Pennsylvania, and the Steps to Cure Sarcoma organization. She’s been an independent investigator with her own lab for 10 years but left academia specifically to lead this enterprise full-time. Dr. Karen, how are you doing?
Dr. Eisinger:
I’m doing well. Thanks very much for having me.
Dave:
Thank you. I love speaking with individuals in the medical field. It’s an industry I don’t know a ton about, but I’m happy to learn more.
I did a little bit of research a priori, and I’d love—if you could explain in layman’s terms—what solid tumors are, what current treatments look like, and how you’re approaching the issue at SyzOnc.
Dr. Eisinger:
Sure, no problem. Solid tumors are really the next frontier in oncology. We’ve had a lot of success over the last 20 years with cell therapies and immunotherapies for tumors that are less complex in their microenvironments—like leukemias and other “liquid” tumors.
Solid tumors, on the other hand, are uniquely challenging due to their complicated infrastructure. I often describe them as apartment buildings. If you think of the cancer cells as residents, they’re actually a relatively minor component of the whole ecosystem. The “building” itself—the walls, plumbing, electrical—is like the tumor infrastructure.
That infrastructure, called the extracellular matrix, is a dense protein structure that gives tumors their form and allows them to communicate with the immune system and other cells. It’s incredibly powerful in helping tumors evade therapeutic intervention.
At SyzOnc, we focus on the entire ecosystem: the tumor cells, the immune cells, and that infrastructure. We develop novel targets and strategies to remodel this environment, allowing treatments to reach the cancer cells and trigger stronger immune responses.
Dave:
Fascinating. I used to live in an apartment building—never thought of myself as part of a tumor cell, but now I will every time I go back.
So when we talk about solid tumors, are we talking about pancreatic cancer? The ones with really low survival rates?
Dr. Eisinger:
That’s exactly right. Glioblastoma (brain cancer), liver cancer, soft tissue sarcomas, and definitely pancreatic cancer. These tumors are very difficult to treat and have resisted almost all available therapies.
In our view, they resist because they exist in a “fortress”—a heavily protected environment that shields them from interventions.
Dave:
You worked at UPenn in a well-funded academic position. Now you’re leading SyzOnc. Why leave academia? Why not leverage the resources you had?
Dr. Eisinger:
Great question. In some cases, it’s possible to commercialize technology from within academia, particularly in areas like medical devices. But for drug development—especially in oncology—you need enormous investment and infrastructure that academic environments just aren’t designed to support.
Universities are built for basic or early translational research. It’s harder to attract the kind of investment needed to bring a drug to market—hundreds of millions of dollars. Spinning out into a startup gives us more freedom to bring in investors, offer equity, and avoid the complications of university ownership.
Dave:
Makes sense. But it sounds like a chicken-and-egg problem. You need promising results to raise money, but you need money to get those results. How do you get past that?
Dr. Eisinger:
Exactly—and it’s something every biotech founder faces. In my case, I spent 20 years building the foundation in academia. My lab published papers, earned funding, and established a reputation. So when we spun out SyzOnc, investors already saw credibility and experience.
It’s much harder to go straight from a PhD to founding a biotech. That deep academic grounding is essential. The question every cancer biologist faces eventually is: Do I stay and publish, or do I take my research and try to change patient outcomes directly through commercial means?
I was fortunate to find something so promising, so potentially transformative, that I felt obligated to take it to market. That’s what drives me.
Dave:
And what’s next for you? Are you mostly pitching now, or are you in development mode?
Dr. Eisinger:
Both. It’s a tough time for science and biotech—funding is tight across the board. But we’re laser-focused on progressing our science. We’ve developed hit compounds we hope will become drugs.
At the same time, we’re constantly speaking with investors and building long-term relationships. We recently received a small business grant from the National Cancer Institute and closed a pre-seed round—even in this tough climate. Now we’re working toward key milestones: refining our small molecules and identifying targets for more tumor types.
Dave:
Amazing. For anyone who wants to learn more or get in touch, where should they go?
Dr. Eisinger:
Visit syzonc.com, or email me directly at karen.eisinger@syzonc.com. We’re happy to speak with scientists, investors, patients, and families. Their input motivates us. There’s nothing more powerful than hearing from the community we hope to help.
Helping people live longer, less fearful lives—that’s the ultimate reward. That’s what drives all of us in this work.
Dave:
Thank you so much for joining us. Wishing you and SyzOnc all the success moving forward.