Tribute
Quest to cure cancer
Dr Ralph M Steinman
When a representative of the Nobel Foundation could not reach Dr Ralph M Steinman by telephone last Monday to deliver the thrilling news that he had been awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2011 for his breakthrough work in immunology, he sent him an e-mail about the honor. But Dr Steinman will never see the message nor learn of the prize. He died of pancreatic cancer 3 days before it was announced. Dr Steinman, a scientist in Rockefeller University made himself into an extraordinary human lab experiment, testing a series of unproven therapies — including some he helped to create — as he waged a very personal battle with pancreatic cancer. His work had been part of an unorthodox experiment to save his life. Dr Steinman's career-long quest had been to develop a vaccine against cancer for humans, having shown 20 years ago that such a treatment could be effective in mice. Usually, medical research proceeds at a glacial, thorough pace: cell studies lead to studies in small animals which lead to studies in larger animals, which eventually lead to small, highly-selective clinical trials in humans. But Steinman decided to make his own body the ultimate experiment. He had removed a piece of the tumour that would eventually kill him, and trained his immune cells to track down any hint of the tumour that might have escaped the surgery. There was no good reason to expect that Steinman could fashion a cure for one of the world's most vicious cancers in time to save his own life. But it was easy to think that it was at least possible. The made-for-Hollywood story of the renegade scientist who fights the establishment to prove his discovery, and then uses it to cure himself, was powerful enough to compel hope. Hats off to Dr Steinman.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments