No one would argue that James Patrick Allison, simply known as Jim to friends, isn’t one of the biggest figures in immunology. He is the main man behind cancer treatments and drugs today.
But before his Nobel Prize win, Allison faced heavy skepticism from fellow oncology researchers. Most did not believe in his work, and many thought he was foolish. Imagine their surprise at his success!
Now, a documentary is even being made about Allison’s life to celebrate his findings and successes. Here’s everything you need to know about the scientist called “foolish” for his immune system research, who then claimed a Nobel Prize for a cancer cure.
Scientist Called Foolish For Immune System Research Claims Nobel Prize For Cancer Cure
1. Research
a. Early Research
Jim Allison’s research first began at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, where he served as a postdoctoral fellow. He was trained under Professor Emeritus Ralph Reisfeld and he began to study human leukocyte antigens, or HLA, and T-cells.
Essentially, Allison’s work involved experimenting and researching how HLA proteins benefit the immune system, helping it to tell the difference between invading cells and welcome ones. A few years later, in 1977, Allison – along with one of his colleagues named G. N. Callahan – discovered something new, which they talked about in a letter they wrote to Nature.
Their findings indicated that they had found the reason behind the immune system’s reluctance to attack cancerous cells. Their research indicated that this was because antigens have an association with other proteins. Discovering this fact would serve as a big positive leap forward for Allison.
b) Breakthroughs: 1990s
In the 1990s, Allison’s work moved to Berkeley’s University of California. Here, he continued his research into cancer – and that’s when he became enthralled by a certain type of molecule: a protein receptor called CTLA-4.
CTLA-4 is a component that is only present on T-cell surfaces. At the time, it was believed to push the immune system to get into gear and fight infections and diseases. But when Allison – and Jeffrey Bluestone, who did similar research in San Francisco’s UC independently – conducted further research, he found that they actually did the opposite.
The molecule actually blocked natural immune responses, serving as a checkpoint of sorts and downregulating the usual immune system action. As such, the next best step would be to create an antibody that restricts or blocks CLTA-4, as this might be able to lead to better rejection of tumors and cancerous cells.
This led to a 1996 paper that served as a major breakthrough in cancer and immunology research. Allison and his lab created an antibody for this purpose and administered it on mice that had cancer. Tumors began to disappear.
The research paper discussed how this new approach to cancer treatment could be used in what they called a checkpoint blockade or checkpoint therapy – to target the body’s immune system, not the cancerous cells. Despite its positive points, though, many were skeptical about the fact that the body’s own immune system could be responsible, in a way, for cancer.
c) Results: 2000s
Allison faced a lot of skepticism for his findings, making it difficult for him to find any companies that would back him so he could begin human testing. But Allison was highly determined and kept his positive thinking going. He would let nothing stop him from achieving his goals.
It took many years of attempting to convince pharmaceutical companies of the possibilities behind his research. Finally, a company – later bought over and owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb – agreed to put the drug to work.
They decided to test it on advanced melanoma patients. At the time, this stage of melanoma was extremely deadly and almost always served as a death sentence. One of the patients taking part in the first round of drug trials was a mother of two, Sharon Vener.
A mole that Vener had turned out to be melanoma in the middle of the ‘80s. Treatment commenced, but 16 years after this, in 1996, the disease struck back brutally. She had a tumor the size of a baseball on her chest wall, attached to her lungs and heart – and it was inoperable. Her liver was also filled with tumors.
Just one dose of the new drug developed by Allison and his team shrank all her tumors immediately. Now 65 years old, Verner is still grateful for being one of the patients in those trials. She was even able to meet Allison around 10 years ago – a heartwarming meeting with hugs and tears.
Today, Allison’s initial research and findings have served as the building blocks for modern immuno-oncology drugs, which we call lpi.
2. The Documentary
The documentary featuring Allison’s life and story is aptly entitled Breakthrough, with the inspiring subtitle of “This is What A Hero Looks Like.” The film, directed by Bill Haney, first premiered at South by Southwest. Narrated by Woody Harrelson and set to Willie Nelson’s music, its tale is rooted deep in Texas.
The documentary follows Allison’s early life, education, and career, as well as some aspects of his personal life. It spans an hour long. Audiences at South by Southwest were treated to a special Q&A by Haney himself, where he explained why he was so interested in telling the tale of what he describes as a revolution in immuno-oncology.
Haney also stated that he wanted to shed light on the imaginative and creative work performed by scientists, as the depiction of creative individuals is often reserved for artists. He also hoped to show just how many gifted individuals remain committed to jumping one of the world’s largest medical hurdles.
Allison felt touched and overwhelmed to see the film cover all his years of exhausting, difficult work and research in one single, breathtaking hour. He said that he’d spent 15 years being frustrated as he worked to find solutions, and he has his team and family to thank for working alongside him and ensuring his positive thinking.
Finally, Allison made it clear that there is much more work to do; the journey remains ongoing. It’s all a work in progress, and it’s one we all hope to see reach a fruitful and successful finale.
3. Academic and Career Background
Allison was born in South Texas into a family already somewhat versed in medicine. His father was a country doctor and did house calls for a living. At the age of 11, Allison’s mother passed away due to lymphoma. Later in life, he would lose a brother and two uncles, also, to cancer.
Surprisingly, those losses and his family history aren’t what made him pursue cancer research. Here’s more of Allison’s academic and career background.
a) Beginnings
Allison was first inspired to attempt to pursue a career in science by a math teacher he had in the 8th grade. That’s likely why he wound up taking a summer program for science training at Austin’s University of Texas.
From a small town, he decided to take high school biology at Alice High School through a correspondence course.
