Steven Rosenberg
Steven A. Rosenberg (born 2 August 1940[1]) is an
American cancer researcher and surgeon, chief of Steven Rosenberg
Surgery at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda,
Maryland and a Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed
Services University of Health Sciences and the George
Washington University School of Medicine and Health
Sciences. He pioneered the development of
immunotherapy that has resulted in the first effective
immunotherapies and the development of gene therapy.
He is the first researcher to successfully insert foreign
genes into humans.
Early life
Rosenberg was born in 1940, in the Bronx, the Born August 2, 1940
youngest of three children of Jewish immigrants from Alma mater Johns Hopkins University
Poland,[2][1] who owned a luncheonette. He met his Harvard University
wife to be, Alice O’Connell during his residency at
Scientific career
Boston’s Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, who was the
chief nurse at the time. They got married in 1968 and Thesis The proteins of human
erythrocyte membranes (1969)
have three daughters.[1]
Methodology
He is credited with developing the use of IL-2 and immune cells for the treatment of patients with
melanoma in a procedure termed adoptive cell transfer.[3] He has shown that expanding immune cells
(known as tumor infiltrating lymphocytes) in the lab can be used to treat patients with melanoma and has
published two important studies describing their use. The first in 2002, demonstrated that some patients
with advanced melanoma can be treated to complete remission with a combination of chemotherapy,
immune cells and high doses of IL-2.[4] The second, in 2006, demonstrated that the receptor of T cells
can be transferred to immune cells and in combination with chemotherapy and high doses of IL-2 can be
used to treat patients with melanoma.[5] Although, this was the first time that the T cell receptor was used
for gene therapy, it was not the first time that gene therapy was used in cancer. Tumor cells modified with
a gene for immune growth factors such as GM-CSF, had been used many years previously and continue
to be used, although the efficacy of GM-CSF modified tumor lines as a cancer vaccine remain extremely
modest, at best.[6] There has been some debate as to the role of the T cells in treating the cancer in these
studies as high-dose IL-2 and chemotherapy have also been shown to have anti-cancer properties.
Nevertheless, the combination of chemotherapy, T cells and high-dose IL-2 was shown to be effective
even in patients who had previously failed high-dose IL-2 treatment.
Rosenberg has pioneered the use of adoptive immunotherapy.
Education
Rosenberg graduated from the Bronx High School of Science. He received his B.A. (biology, 1961) and
M.D. (1964) degrees from Johns Hopkins University.[1] He served a surgical internship and residency at
the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, completing it in 1974. During his residency he also earned a Ph.D. in
biophysics from Harvard University with thesis titled The proteins of human erythrocyte membranes (in
1968/1969).[1] Following the completion of his surgical residency, he became the Chief of Surgery at the
National Cancer Institute, a position he continues to hold.[1] His research has focused on the
immunotherapy of cancer.
Awards and honors
1992 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement[7]
2011 William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Tumor Immunology of the
Cancer Research Institute
2013 Keio Medical Science Prize
2015 Medal of Honor of the American Cancer Society
2018 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research [8]
2019 Edogawa NICHE Prize[9]
2019 Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research[10]
2021 Dan David Prize[11]
2022 Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Extraordinary Achievements in
Cancer Research ([Link]
3-aacr-international-award/2022---steven-a--rosenberg/)
2023 Clarivate Citation Laureates[12]
2023 National Medal of Technology and Innovation[13]
See also
Cell therapy
Chimeric antigen receptor
Immunotherapy
Iovance Biotherapeutics
References
1. "Steven A. Rosenberg Works to Unmask Cancer's Achilles Heel - the ASCO Post" ([Link]
[Link]/issues/november-25-2018/steven-a-rosenberg-works-to-unmask-cancer-s-achill
es-heel/).
2. Pollack, Andrew (August 1, 2016). "Setting the Body's 'Serial Killers' Loose on Cancer
(Published 2016)" ([Link]
[Link]). The New York Times.
3. Wrangle, JM; Patterson, A; Johnson, CB; Neitzke, DJ; Mehrotra, S; Denlinger, CE; Paulos,
CM; Li, Z; Cole, DJ; Rubinstein, MP (February 2018). "IL-2 and Beyond in Cancer
Immunotherapy" ([Link] Journal of
Interferon & Cytokine Research. 38 (2): 45–68. doi:10.1089/jir.2017.0101 ([Link]
1089%2Fjir.2017.0101). PMC 5815463 ([Link]
5463). PMID 29443657 ([Link]
4. Dudley ME, Wunderlich JR, Robbins PF, et al. (October 2002). "Cancer regression and
autoimmunity in patients after clonal re-population with antitumor lymphocytes" ([Link]
[Link]/pmc/articles/PMC1764179). Science. 298 (5594): 850–4.
Bibcode:2002Sci...298..850D ([Link]
doi:10.1126/science.1076514 ([Link] PMC 1764179
([Link] PMID 12242449 ([Link]
[Link]/12242449).
5. Morgan RA, Dudley ME, Wunderlich JR, et al. (October 2006). "Cancer regression in
patients after transfer of genetically engineered lymphocytes" ([Link]
pmc/articles/PMC2267026). Science. 314 (5796): 126–9. Bibcode:2006Sci...314..126M (http
s://[Link]/abs/2006Sci...314..126M). doi:10.1126/science.1129003 ([Link]
[Link]/10.1126%2Fscience.1129003). PMC 2267026 ([Link]
cles/PMC2267026). PMID 16946036 ([Link]
6. Jaffee EM, Hruban RH, Biedrzycki B, et al. (January 2001). "Novel allogeneic granulocyte-
macrophage colony-stimulating factor-secreting tumor vaccine for pancreatic cancer: a
phase I trial of safety and immune activation" ([Link]
&pmid=11134207). Journal of Clinical Oncology. 19 (1): 145–56.
doi:10.1200/jco.2001.19.1.145 ([Link]
PMID 11134207 ([Link]
7. "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement" ([Link]
[Link]/our-history/golden-plate-awards/). [Link]. American Academy of
Achievement.
8. "Trailblazing Researchers in Immunotherapy Selected to Receive Americas Most
Distinguished Prize in Medicine" ([Link]
[Link]).
[Link].
9. "2019 Edogawa NICHE Prize Awarded to Dr. Steven Rosenberg for His Pioneering Feat in
Tackling Cancer with Immunotherapy" ([Link]
dogawa-NICHE-Prize-Awarded-to-Dr-Steven-Rosenberg-for-His-Pioneering-Feat-in-Tackling
-Cancer--29068645/). [Link]. 15 August 2019.
10. "Pioneering Physician-Scientist to Receive 2019 Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer
Research" ([Link]
rgyi-prize/). National Foundation for Cancer Research. 12 February 2019. Retrieved
24 February 2021.
11. Dan David Prize 2021 ([Link]
12. "Citation Laureates 2023_Physiology or Medicine" ([Link]
hysiology-or-medicine-2023/). Citation Laureates. Clarivate. Archived ([Link]
g/web/20230919121409/[Link]
3/) from the original on September 19, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
13. "NIH immunotherapy pioneer Steven Rosenberg awarded nation's highest honor for
technology and innovation" ([Link]
rapy-pioneer-steven-rosenberg-awarded-nation-s-highest-honor-technology-innovation).
National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
External links
Gene therapy rids men of cancer ([Link] BBC
News (2006 coverage of cancer breakthrough discovered by his team)
"Cancer Miracles" ([Link]
bes/2009/0302/074_cancer_miracles_2.html), Robert Langreth, Forbes, 2009
Retrieved from "[Link]