Oncologist receives Szent-Györgyi Prize for groundbreaking research discoveries
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, received the Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research.
The award — presented by National Foundation for Cancer Research — is awarded annually to honor a scientist whose body of work has had a lasting impact on the understanding of cancer, saving or significantly improving the lives of people with the disease.
Slamon — director of clinical and translational research at UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and chief of hematology/oncology at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA — received the award in recognition of research that helped shape precision medicine approaches for breast cancer treatment and laid the foundation for development of targeted therapies for other types of cancer.
"I am honored and humbled to receive this prestigious award,” Slamon said in a press release. “This recognition is not just for me, but for the countless researchers, clinicians and especially the brave women who have participated in our clinical trials. Together, we have changed the landscape of breast cancer treatment and continue to work on developing cancer treatments that can move from the bench to the bedside more rapidly."
Slamon identified the HER2 gene, leading to the defining of a new breast cancer subtype. HER2 is overexpressed in approximately 25% to 30% of breast cancers.
Slamon’s research led to the development of trastuzumab, the first FDA-approved gene-based drug for cancer. He and his team also led the development of palbociclib (Ibrance, Pfizer), the first targeted inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6.
“Dr. Slamon created a new paradigm for modern translational cancer research,” Michael A. Teitell, MD, PhD, director of UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, said in the release. “His discoveries emphasized the importance of targeting the molecular mechanism, not the histology of cancer, which has become the basis for most new cancer treatments. He has inspired physicians and investigators, including myself, to look beyond their existing assumptions to find more effective ways to treat people with cancer.”
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts