How A Fringe Idea Led To Lifesaving Cancer Treatments

In cancer research, the “seed and soil” hypothesis posits that the tumor is like a seed of misbehaving cells taking root in the body. Whether it grows—and where it grows—depends on the conditions, or soil. Since this hypothesis was proposed more than 100 years ago, most research and treatments have focused on the seed, or tumor. 

For nearly 50 years, Rakesh Jain has been studying the soil. But in a seed-focused field, his work was seen as wasteful and radical. Now, that very same research has led to seven FDA-approved treatments for diseases including lung and liver cancer, and earned him a National Medal of Science in 2016. Host Flora Lichtman talks with Jain about how his fringe idea led to lifesaving cancer treatments. 

Guest: Dr. Rakesh K. Jain studies the biology of tumors at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital as a professor of radiation oncology.

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"CAR-T cells are T cells that have been extracted from a patient, modified in a laboratory to recognize and target cancer cells then infused back into the patient. They have revolutionized the treatment of many blood cancers, but have not yet benefited patients with solid tumors, such as lung, breast, colorectal or brain tumors. By developing a sophisticated mathematical model, we demonstrated that normalizing tumor blood vessels — which means transforming the abnormal, disorganized vasculature of a tumor into a more normal, structured and functional state — can improve the efficacy of CAR-T therapy and reduce the required therapeutic dose by about fivefold."