For nearly 20 years Rosenberg's research at the NCI has probed how the immune system responds to cancer and set the pace for developing this new form of cancer therapy. He and his colleagues pioneered the isolation of tumor antigens that activate cytotoxic T cells against cancers, especially melanomas, and are working out new therapies based on those antigens. Rosenberg's reward is seeing therapy response rates slowly climb to about one-third of his patients.
 Steven A. Rosenberg |
Now researchers stand at what may be the final barrier holding them from more widespread success. The central question of his field now is how cancers escape therapy; that is, "what are the mechanisms limiting cancer regression, despite in vivo generation of large numbers of T cells against tumor antigens?" With answers, better therapies are sure to follow.
To uncover the escape routes that cancer cells use to flee immune destruction, and then ...
