Cancer Scientist Dies Without Knowing Of Nobel Prize

Published on Wednesday, 12 October 2011 13:44

	By Mel Morton Follow @Mel_Morton

On Monday it was announced that the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011 had been awarded to Dr Ralph Steinman ‘for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity.’

An honour he shares with scientists Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffman ‘for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity.’  But one he was unaware of when he died of cancer last Friday at the age of 68.

Tragically, Steinman passed away literally hours before he would've learned that his work was to be honoured with science's biggest award.

In a press release The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet said:

“The discoveries of the three Nobel Laureates have revealed how the innate and adaptive phases of the immune response are activated and thereby provided novel insights into disease mechanisms.  Their work has opened up new avenues for the development of prevention and therapy against infections, cancer, and inflammatory diseases.”

There had been concerns about whether Dr Steinman would receive the award, as it is not offered posthumously.  The Nobel committee have confirmed that, as they were unaware of Dr Steinman’s death at the time they made their decision, it would stand.

Dr Steinman, a Professor of Immunology at the Rockefeller University in New York, and Senior Physician at the Hospital, is the 24^th scientist from the University to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

“The Rockefeller University is delighted that the Nobel Foundation has recognized Ralph Steinman for his seminal discoveries concerning the body’s immune responses,” says Rockefeller University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Ph.D.

“But the news is bittersweet, as we also learned this morning from Ralph’s family that he passed a few days ago after a long battle with cancer. Our thoughts are with Ralph’s wife, children and family.”

His daughter, Alexis Steinman said: “We are all so touched that our father’s many years of hard work are being recognized with a Nobel Prize.  He devoted his life to his work and his family, and he would be truly honored.”

Dr Steinman died following a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer, the same cancer that Apple CEO, Steve Jobs suffered with and ultimately lost his fight to in the same week as Steinman.

Both men were revolutionary giants, Jobs in the field of technology, Dr Steinman within immunology. And, just like Jobs, Steinman refused to go quietly to cancer.

In 1973, Dr Steinman identified new cells with his collaborator, Zanvil A. Cohn, which they named dendritic cells.  Although his peers were sceptical at first Steinman’s determination and belief in the discovery eventually convinced immunologists around the world of their significance

Lauren Gravitz, who met Steinman during a two-year tenure as a science writer in the Rockefeller communications department, says that Steinman “spent years battling to prove its importance in defending the body against pathogens and to show how it could be used to fight disease.”

It is now a highly recognised area of study as researchers explore how these cells can be used to fight cancer, HIV and other illnesses.

The first therapeutic cancer vaccine, Provenge, made by Dendreon Corp and used in the treatment of prostate cancer, was based on dendritic cells.

But what are dendritic cells?

Science writer Brett Norman, who has spent years chronicling the research of scientists, including Steinman explains:

“Dendritic cells are the “sentinel cells’ of the mammalian immune system.  Named after the Greek word for tree, they develop distinctive probing branches when activated, sweeping their environment in search of unwelcome things – like bacteria, viruses, tumours.”

“When dendritic cells encounter something they don’t like,” Brett continues, “they take a physical marker of the invader, called an antigen, and present it to B and T cells, the defenders of the body’s immune system.  Those cells then adapt weapons to identify and destroy the interlopers.”

The Dendritic Cell

When Dr Steinman was diagnosed with stage-four pancreatic cancer four years ago and faced with only a five percent chance of surviving the year, Steinman turned to his own research to look for a cure.

With the collaboration of both the science and medical communities, Steinman experimented on his own body with eight different experimental trials alongside conventional treatments.

“Together with collaborators around the world, he designed therapies that made use of his own dendritic cells,” Gravitz says.  “Steinman believed the therapies would act as a one-two punch.”

Dr Sarah Schlesinger, a colleague of Steinman’s at Rockefeller University told Reuters that Steinman believed “that the human clinical investigation was the highest form of research, that it was critical to engage in it.”

“His experiment was an open secret on campus, registered with the hospital and aided by a long-time friend and staff physician,” Brett Norman says.

Dr Schlesinger is eager to explain though that the treatments Steinman experimented with were all cleared by U.S regulators in clinical trials,  “…you hear of people in the back room of the lab injecting themselves,” she says. “That was not this. An immense amount of my last four years was spent on the paperwork.”

Part of Steinman’s research involved a section of his tumour being used “to grow cells in the lab that would help form the basis of personalized cancer treatments.”

Hopeful of his recovery, Steinman wanted to experiment individually with each treatment to measure results.  Dr Schlesinger says that she and colleague Dr Nussenzweig forced him to undertake treatments at the same time.

“Ralph believed he was going to be cured and he was going to publish this,” she says.

“We literally had to argue with him that it was only going to be a case report anyway.  There was no statistical significance to one person, no matter how well the experiment was designed, and we just had to save him.”

Although the experimental treatments were unable to save his life, Dr Steinman who is survived by his wife, mother, three children and three grandchildren, exceeded the five percent survival rate by three years.  He continued to work on his research right up to the end of his life.

“He was running an experiment on himself and was willing to help out with every kind of study. He wanted to help himself, but he also viewed it as an incredible opportunity to learn something,” says Ira Mellman, vice-president of oncology research at the biotechnology firm Genentech in South San Francisco, California.

Whilst it will remain unknown whether the experimental treatments helped Steinman’s survival these past four years, colleagues say that Steinman was convinced that dendritic cells were responsible.

“Ralph was committed to the idea that his dendritic cells extended his life,” Dr Schlesinger says.  “Certainly something did, but I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure what.”

What is certain is that Dr Steinman’s research will continue to influence future generations of scientists.

A point on which science writer, Lauren Gravitz agrees:

“Steinman’s one-man trial moved the field forward.  It answered a major question by showing that conventional chemotherapy could be given in conjunction with dendritic-cell vaccines.”

And he says: “It bolstered Steinman’s contention that experimental therapies should be tested in humans as quickly as possible, owing to the limitations of animal models.  And it united the best minds in the field, all fighting for a common cause.”

Relevant Links

The Nobel Prize 2011

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011

Steve Jobs Passes Away