Our congratulations to Ludwig Lausanne Director George Coukos, who in August was named Fellow of the Academy of Immuno-Oncology of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). The Academy of Immuno-Oncology was established to honor individuals who have helped build the field of cancer immunotherapy into what the SITC says is “the breakthrough cancer treatment it is today, bringing together the brightest minds in the field to inspire the next generation of immuno-oncologists.” On its website, the Society lauds George for his discovery of spontaneous anti-tumor immunity in ovarian cancer, which it notes helped overturn the longstanding dogma that solid tumors are generally immunologically unresponsive. This work, it adds, “catalyzed global research into T cell responses in cancer.” SITC also cites George’s many other contributions to tumor immunology and immuno-oncology in the years since, including his exhaustive characterization of the ovarian tumor microenvironment (TME) and its various mechanisms of immune suppression. These include his discovery of the vascular endothelial barrier and elucidation of how that vasculature limits T cell infiltration. It notes that his lab has also described TME characteristics that support anti-tumor immunity and chemokines essential to T cell trafficking. These and other discoveries, it says, “have informed new therapeutic strategies now undergoing clinical testing” for the treatment of cancer.
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