Steven A. Rosenberg

Steven Rosenberg is the founding father of cancer immunotherapy and adoptive cell therapy. His laboratory performed the first cancer cures using IL-2-activated lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells in the 1980s, demonstrating for the first time that immune cell infusions could achieve complete cancer responses. He developed TIL (tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte) therapy, first demonstrating 30-50% response rates in metastatic melanoma, which 35 years later led to FDA approval of lifileucel. Rosenberg pioneered gene-engineered T cell therapy and made foundational contributions that directly enabled CAR-T cell development. His work at the NCI Surgery Branch over 5 decades has produced more adoptive cell therapy firsts than any other laboratory.