Word: interleukins
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...effacing whimsy. Like every good researcher--and every responsible science journalist--he knows all too well that most drugs that work in lab animals turn out to be duds in humans. The field is littered with "magic bullets" that failed, among them monoclonal antibodies, tumor necrosis factor, interferon and interleukin-2. While all were initially hyped as potential cure-alls, they have turned out to have only modest usefulness in the war on cancer. At best, says Dr. Allen Oliff, Merck & Co.'s chief of cancer research, no more than 10% or 20% of agents tried in mice succeed...
...weathered his share of scientific catfights. A brilliant scientist, he is the author or co-author of more than 1,000 scientific papers and one of the world's most frequently cited researchers. In the 1970s, while at the National Cancer Institute, he discovered the immune-boosting molecule interleukin-2 and isolated the first cancer-causing retroviruses in humans...
...focused on one such protein, called tumor necrosis factor. Immunex's treatment, which worked so effectively for Lindagail Dixon, consists of genetically engineered proteins that sop up excess tnf, interrupting the cycle of destruction. A third tactic, being developed by Amgen of Thousand Oaks, California, targets another inflammatory protein, interleukin-1, in much the same way. If approved by the FDA, all three drugs could be on the market in a couple of years...
...caused by the immune system's running amuck and attacking the body's connective tissue. Their strategy was to expose cells in the swollen tissue lining their patient's finger joints to genetically engineered viruses. These viruses carried a gene responsible for a protein that blocks the action of interleukin-1, a substance that stimulates immune-system activity. Without that stimulation, the doctors hope, the immune system will halt its assault on the joint linings...
...Scientists have the best evidence yet that immunotherapy- using the body's immune system to fight disease -- is an effective way to treat certain cancers. After giving the genetically engineered drug Interleukin 2 in high doses to 283 patients with spreading kidney or skin cancer, researchers found that a significant number stayed in remission for periods from seven to 91 months...