New Hot Paper Comment by Steven A. Rosenberg

Steven A. Rosenberg answers a few questions about this month's new hot paper in the field of Clinical Medicine.

From •>>September 2006

Field: Clinical Medicine
Article Title: Adoptive cell transfer therapy following non-myeloablative but lymphodepleting chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with refractory metastatic melanoma
Authors: Dudley, ME;Wunderlich, JR;Yang, JC;Sherry, RM;Topalian, SL;Restifo, NP;Royal, RE;Kammula, U;White, DE;Mavroukakis, SA;Rogers, LJ;Gracia, GJ;Jones, SA;Mangiameli, DP;Pelletier, MM;Gea-Banacloche, J;Robinson, MR;Berman, DM;Filie, AC;Abati, A;Rosenberg, SA
Journal: J CLIN ONCOL
Volume: 23
Issue: 10
Page: 2346-2357
Year: APR 1 2005
* NCI, Surg Branch, NIH, CRC 3-3940,10 Ctr Dr MSC 1201, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA.
* NCI, Surg Branch, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA.
* NCI, Expt Immunol & Transplantat Lab, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA.
* NCI, Pathol Lab, Ctr Canc Res, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA.
* NEI, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA.

Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

“This paper demonstrates that immune anti-tumor T cells, when properly activated ex vivo, are capable of recognizing and destroying cancer in patients.”

There is great interest in developing new approaches to the immunotherapy of cancer. This paper describes the most effective cancer immunotherapy now available and demonstrates that the immune system is capable of mediating the regression of large invasive cancers in humans.

Does it describe a new discovery, methodology, or synthesis of knowledge?

The immunotherapy approach described in this paper involves the infusion of autologous anti-tumor lymphocytes into patients following preparative lymphodepleting chemotherapy. The infused cells with anti-tumor activity persist in the patients and mediate tumor destruction.

Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman’s terms?

This paper demonstrates that immune anti-tumor T cells, when properly activated ex vivo, are capable of recognizing and destroying cancer in patients. These findings are stimulating increased work in the field of human cancer immunotherapy.

How did you become involved in this research, and were there obstacles along the way?

This work has resulted from incremental advances in our work published over the last 20 years.

Are there any social or political implications for your research?

The development of effective cancer treatments can have considerable social impact. Cancer causes almost 600,000 deaths in Americans each year.

Steven A. Rosenberg MD, PhD
Chief, Surgery Branch
National Cancer Institute
Bethesda, MD, USA

ESI Special Topics, September 2006
Citing URL - http://www.esi-topics.com/nhp/2006/september-06-StevenARosenberg.html