#NYT: Is the Cure for Cancer Inside You?

Steinman knew he wouldn’t live to see that field reach its full potential. It has been almost 40 years since he discovered the dendritic cell, and doctors have only now begun to make immunotherapies that work. By all accounts, that sluggish pace was deeply frustrating to Steinman, even before he got sick. “His mind went so fast, and he always wanted everything done yesterday,” Schlesinger says. Years ago, the two of them were on their way to their lab, and Steinman was in a foul mood because a trial they hoped to run was taking longer than expected. After some back and forth about the details, he stopped to consider what he had accomplished in his long career. “He said to me, ‘You know, all this time has gone by, and we haven’t cured cancer or found a vaccine for H.I.V.’ ” And then he paused, and told her, “We’ve got to get to work.”

Full article by Daniel Engber here.