Steven A. Rosenberg
2022 Pezcoller-AACR Award winner
Rosenberg è stato premiato per lo sviluppo delle prime immunoterapie cellulari efficacinei pazienti con cancro, compresa la prima terapia con cellule T approvata dalla Food and Drug Administration (FDA) per pazienti con tumori ematologici.
The Father of Modern Immunotherapy
Steven Rosenberg is a giant of modern medicine: we owe to him the very first treatments that taught our immune system to recognize and destroy cancer. He was the first to prove that a patient’s own defense cells – when properly stimulated or genetically engineered – can shrink even the most aggressive tumors, leading to the historical approval of the world’s first cellular immunotherapies by the US FDA.
TIL Lymphocytes: Harnessing the Patient’s Defenses
In the 1990s, Rosenberg made a fundamental discovery: he extracted immune cells that were trying to fight the disease directly from patients’ tumors (known as TIL lymphocytes), multiplied and energized them in the lab using a stimulating substance (the protein IL-2), and reinfused them into the patients. This treatment achieved complete, long-term tumor regression in advanced melanoma cases, later expanding with equal success to kidney, breast, colon, and liver cancers.
The CAR-T Cell Revolution
Not content with this achievement, Rosenberg and his team took an even bigger step forward: they genetically reprogrammed patients’ lymphocytes by equipping them with molecular “radars” (called CARs) capable of identifying cancer cells with pinpoint precision. This birthed CAR-T cell therapy – a revolutionary treatment that is now saving the lives of children and adults with leukemias and lymphomas that no longer responded to chemotherapy.
“His pioneering research in immunotherapy has created a new paradigm for the treatment of cancer and other diseases, and has resulted in countless lives being saved. He could not be more deserving to receive our most prestigious of scientific achievement awards.”
Margaret Foti, CEO of the American Association for Cancer Research
Biography
Steven A. Rosenberg is Chief of the Surgery Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and George Washington University.
He was elected a Fellow of the AACR Academy in 2013 and has received numerous awards for his pioneering research in immunotherapy. Author of over 1,000 scientific publications and 30 books, he is widely recognized for his groundbreaking work on interleukin-2 and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs).
He earned both his undergraduate and medical degrees from Johns Hopkins University, followed by a PhD in biophysics from Harvard University.
Dr. Rosenberg was announced as the winner during the 2022 AACR Annual Meeting in New Orleans, where he presented his award lecture.
Watch here the traditional Award Ceremony held on 14 May 2022 at the Teatro Sociale in Trento.