Charles L. Sawyers

Charles Sawyers is a physician-scientist who made seminal contributions to two cancer treatment revolutions: overcoming imatinib resistance in CML and developing enzalutamide for castration-resistant prostate cancer. His laboratory identified BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations (particularly T315I) as the mechanism of acquired imatinib resistance and developed dasatinib as a more potent BCR-ABL inhibitor effective against most resistance mutations. Simultaneously, he identified continued androgen receptor (AR) signaling in castration-resistant prostate cancer despite castrate testosterone levels and led development of enzalutamide as a more potent AR antagonist, transforming CRPC treatment and extending survival by years.