Stalking the killer. Part 1.

Dr. Steven Rosenberg (National Cancer Institute, U.S. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland) believes that the key to the cure of cancer lies within the body itself. In 1985 he proved that the immune system can fight cancer and began developing a vaccine, but it took many years to obtain Food and Drug Administration approval for clinical trials. He and his team identified genes which attack cancer and set about identifying the antigens on the cancer cells which would be the targets for vaccines. The vaccine consists of a cancer-attacking gene injected into the patient by means of a laboratory-created virus vehicle. As patients undergo treatment their case histories are given and their symptoms are shown together with the scans which show whether they are responding to the vaccine. The series of vaccinations is supplemented by interleukyn-2 treatment to increase the patients' level of immune cells. The programme conveys Dr. Rosenberg's commitment to his patients as he witnesses the successes and failures of this treatment.