Lewis C. Cantley, PhD, receives Wolf Prize in Medicine

Issue: April 25, 2016

Lewis C. Cantley, PhD, director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been named one of seven recipients of the 2016 Wolf Prize in Medicine.

The Wolf Prize in Medicine — considered Israel’s Nobel Prize — is presented annually by the Wolf Foundation to researchers who have made pivotal achievements in their field.

Cantley received the award for research that identified the enzyme phosphoinositide 3-kinase, fundamental to the understanding of diabetes and cancer.

This year’s seven winners will share the $500,000 cash prize.

Lewis C. Cantley, PhD

HemOnc Today spoke with Cantley about what the award means to him, the accomplishments that led to his selection and what he hopes winning an award like this will do for his research team at Weill Cornell.

Question: What was your reaction when you learned you received the Wolf Prize in Medicine?

Answer: It was certainly a huge surprise and great excitement to be honored with such an incredible prize. The previous list of recipients is impressive. Major breakthroughs in medicine have been awarded since 1978, and it was a great pleasure to be amidst such an austere group. It also was a real pleasure for me to be awarded with my often-times collaborator, C. Ronald Kahn, MD, who received the Wolf Prize in Medicine for research in insulin signaling. Ron and I have published a number of papers together over the years elucidating the mechanism by which insulin activates PI3 kinase, and for us to both receive the award simultaneously is a real pleasure.

Q: Can you describe the accomplishments that led your selection?

A: I am most noted for my work in cancer, but this award is really focused more toward diabetes and the contributions we have made discovering that PI3 kinase mediates insulin responses. We discovered PI3 kinase in the mid-1980s. A few years later, we showed insulin activates PI3 kinase and that PI3 kinase mediates cellular responses to insulin. The connection between insulin and PI3 kinase opened up a new field of study involving many laboratories, and these studies have unraveled the mystery of how insulin controls metabolism and whole-body glucose homeostasis. Since we initially discovered PI3 kinase as a mediator of oncogene-induced cancers, the connection to insulin signaling raised the possibility that diseases such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cancer might have a common link through PI3 kinase. Retrospective studies are beginning to reveal a strong correlation between insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and a subset of cancers. These are the types of cancers that are increasing as the Western world becomes more and more obese.

Q: What will you do with the cash prize?

A: I actually have not yet decided what to do with the prize. I sometimes treat my laboratory to a retreat where I take them all to an interesting place, often with a beach nearby, where we share our ideas and research progress. We also have fun, of course. The money will be spent in this way for sure, to reward the people who did the work over the years to make this prize possible.

Q: What do you hope winning this award will mean for your team at Weill Cornell?

A: It certainly gives us more visibility for what we have accomplished. It is an honor for the institution. I started my career at Weill Cornell and I am finishing my career here, as well. It is a real honor for me to receive this prize, and hopefully my colleagues at Weill Cornell are just as pleased with this award.

Q: What is next? What new research efforts are on the horizon?

A: I am continuing to pursue the connection between insulin resistance, obesity and cancer. We are trying to understand this in more detail, using animal models to study how this connection is working. We are at huge risk for increased cancer rates due to obesity in America and, in fact, the entire world. There are potential mechanisms to intervene that can change the lifestyle and potentially prevent cancer, which is far better than trying to treat it. Another major focus of my laboratory is better understanding metabolism in cancer cells and how to use this knowledge to develop better therapies.

Q: Whom do you consider a mentor?

A: I have had numerous mentors throughout the years. I trained as a chemist as a graduate student at Cornell under Gordon G. Hammes, PhD, who is a very well-known enzymologist and physical chemist. My postdoctoral work at Harvard was with Guido Guidotti, MD, PhD, a brilliant biochemist who taught me some biology and membrane biochemistry. It was while working with Guidotti that I became interested in how insulin regulates cellular metabolism. This ultimately led to the connection with PI3 kinase, which I made 10 years later as a professor at Tufts Medical School.

Q: What is your advice to younger scientists and researchers following in your footsteps?

A: My advice is to follow your passion. Rather than do research because someone is willing to fund it, one should do the research that answers questions that that satisfy your curiosity. Basic research that uncovers new insight into biochemistry and biology could lead to cures for diseases that were not the focus of the research. The PI3 kinase story is a good example of this. – by Jennifer Southall

For more information:

Lewis C. Cantley, PhD, can be reached at Weill Cornell Medicine, 1300 York Ave., New York, NY 10065; email:lcantley@med.cornell.edu.

Disclosure: Cantley reports no relevant financial disclosures.