Tony Hunter, Brian Druker and John Mendelsohn have won this year’s Tang Prize in biopharmaceutical science for their breakthroughs in developing targeted cancer therapies, the Tang Prize Selection Committee announced yesterday.
Their research and findings of protein tyrosine phosphorylation and tyrosine kinases as oncogenes have led to successful targeted cancer therapies, the committee said.
The three winners, all Americans, have shown how basic science can lead to clinical applications that benefit humankind, said Chang Wen-chang (張文昌), a member of Academia Sinica and the convener of the selection committee.
Photo: CNA
Hunter demonstrated that a mechanism called tyrosine phosphorylation acts as a master on/off switch for a number of key proteins that are critical for successful cancer therapies, the committee said.
Hunter, a professor of biology at the Salk Institute, gave birth to the field of targeted therapies after discovering in 1979 the mechanism of tyrosine phosphorylation and that the oncogene Src is a tyrosine kinase.
The historic discovery paved the way for active research in the following two decades on tyrosine kinase oncogenes, ultimately leading to the development of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).
Based on Hunter’s discovery, Druker, the director of Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute, led the successful clinical trial of a cancer-fighting drug called imatinib.
The drug turned chronic myelogenous leukemia, a cancer that once had a very low survival rate, into a manageable condition.
Gleevec, a brand of imatinib, shuts off oncogenic signals by inhibiting Abl-protein tyrosine kinases as predicted by Hunter’s original research, the committee said.
Gleevec has also been successfully used in the treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia and certain types of gastrointestinal stromal tumors by inhibiting other tyrosine kinase oncoproteins.
There are more than 26 TKIs that have been approved for clinical use. All of the discoveries have Druker’s first successful trials to thank because they spurred this still burgeoning targeted therapy era, the committee said.
John Mendelsohn, president emeritus of MD Anderson Cancer Center, took another approach to combating cancer.
An alternative way of shutting off the activities of tyrosine kinases on the cell surface (receptor tyrosine kinase) is to develop antibodies against the extracellular domain of the receptor, the committee said.
In such a way, the natural ligand, or growth factor, can no longer bind and the receptor tyrosine kinase is no longer activated. Mendelsohn and his team came up with the idea that antibodies targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) may be an effective strategy for cancer treatment.
Mendelsohn led his team in conducting preclinical research and proceeded to develop the anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab, which eventually won the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval for the treatment of colon cancer and head/neck cancer.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we