The transformed cell

About this book

The great moments of scientific discovery all too often occur in the far reaches of the laboratory, hidden from the public eye. Rarely do readers have an opportunity to comprehend the exhilaration and sense of awe scientists feel as they finally make a breakthrough in understanding the complex web of nature. The Transformed Cell changes all that. Dr. Steven Rosenberg, one of the world's leading surgeons, provides an extraordinary glimpse inside the workings of the scientific process. Moreover, he tells a story of hope: of a devoted doctor's exciting advances in halting the spread of cancer. Dr. Rosenberg's quest began in 1968, when he encountered a patient whose cancer had mysteriously disappeared. Could the body itself, he wondered, have mounted a massive immune response to the cancer? From that point on, Dr. Rosenberg set out to see if immunotherapy, and later gene therapy, could succeed where surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation had failed. The setting for this powerful human drama is the National Cancer Institute, where Dr. Rosenberg became chief of surgery at the age of thirty-four. In easy-to-understand language, he takes the reader inside one of the most important medical institutions in the world - and inside the laboratory - as he leads a team of dedicated investigators. Dr. Rosenberg describes the heartbreaks along the way, as well as the first successes in 1985, when he viewed a patient's X ray and saw evidence of tumor shrinkage. Since then, Dr. Rosenberg has made headlines around the world for his pioneering treatments that have saved many lives. With a cautious optimism, he tells of the potential of these treatments and of his most recent experiments, the first in history in which foreign genes were inserted into humans. Deeply personal, often anecdotal, The Transformed Cell is written with an unusual clarity and vision. Dr. Rosenberg describes his progress with contagious excitement, and compassionately relates the stories of those patients selected to undergo treatment. In the style of The Double Helix, this is a gripping medical mystery as well as a rare view of the trials - and triumphs - of scientific research.