Judah Folkman, a proponent of the idea that halting angiogenesis could starve tumors, died yesterday at the age of 74. According to news reports, the cause of death was a heart attack.

The promise of anti-angiogenesis therapies led to many high hopes for Folkman's work, particularly when the New York Times ran a 1998 story quoting James Watson's prediction that Folkman would cure cancer in two years.

Folkman "was upset about that," recalled Rakesh Jain, a colleague of Folkman's at Harvard. "He knew that it would take time. He was realistic about it. But he was also optimistic, " said Jain. That optimism inspired Folkman to continue pursuing anti-angiogenesis therapies after they failed to live up to their early hype, and in 2004, the FDA approved the first biological therapy that blocked the formation of new blood vessels to tumors. "That optimism did translate into something," Jain told me by phone this afternoon.

According to ISI, Folkman authored over 500 papers, which collectively accumulated nearly 75,000 citations.

You can read here, in Folkman's own words, the story of his discovery of the first angiogenic protein.

Jain met Folkman 25 years ago when Jain invited the researcher to give a talk on tumor pathophysiology to MIT students. When Jain moved to Harvard, Folkman continued to lecture for his students as recently as last September.

Jain recalled Folkman as generous, creative, and with a vision that enabled him to connect different areas. "He inspired all of us to work in this area," Jain said.

"I think he was a most incredible human being," Jain added. "This is so unexpected. We were going to celebrate his 75th birthday in a month."

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