Thierry Boon

Thierry Boon made the landmark discovery of MAGE-1, the first molecularly defined human tumor antigen recognized by T cells, proving that the human immune system can specifically recognize cancer cells through tumor-specific peptide-MHC complexes. This discovery in 1991 opened the entire field of tumor antigen-based cancer immunotherapy and provided the molecular basis for understanding anti-tumor T cell immunity. His identification of cancer-testis antigens as a class of immunotherapy targets led to decades of cancer vaccine clinical trials. His work provided the molecular proof that T cells can specifically distinguish cancer cells from normal tissue.