Cancer killers

摘要

Michel Sadelain recalls his colleagues' response to his postdoctoral research project: a combination of amusement and incredulousness. He wanted to eschew the vaccine-based approaches that were common at the time, and instead kill cancer cells by tinkering with the immune system genetically. Twenty years later, his insight seems to have been vindicated. Early successes in treating people with cancer using engineered immune cells called T cells have breathed new life into the once-maligned field of cancer immunotherapy (see page 24)， and the result has been an influx of funding, as well as growing opportunities in academia and industry.