Immunotherapy: Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered no More

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 305; no. 5681; pp. 197 - 200
• Main Authors: Steinman, Ralph M., Mellman, Ira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 09.07.2004; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Analysis; Animals; Biomedical Research; Cancer; Cancer Vaccines - therapeutic use; Cellular immunity; Clinical Trials as Topic; Communicable Diseases; Dendritic cells; Dendritic Cells - immunology; Human Experimentation; Humans; Immune response; Immune system; Immune System - physiology; Immune Tolerance; Immunology; Immunotherapy; Laboratories; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - therapy; Patients; Peer Review, Research; Publishing; Research facilities; Research Support as Topic; T lymphocytes; Therapy; Translation; Transplantation immunology; Tumors; Viewpoints and Reviews
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1099688

The field of immunotherapy holds dear promise not only for the development of new approaches to cancer and other diseases, but also for providing fundamental insight into the human immune response. In order for this promise to be realized, however, the scientific community must overcome an array of challenges. These challenges reflect not only the difficulties inherent in conducting investigations in human patients, but also difficulties created by the culture and practice of our own institutions, reward structure, and funding mechanisms. We suggest steps to be taken to reinvigorate basic research in human subjects as part of the mainstream of science.