Steve Rosenberg is the Chief of Surgery at the National Cancer Institute, a position he has held continuously for the past 47 years. Steve is a pioneer in the field of immunotherapies for cancer and a recipient of nearly every major award in science. In this episode, Steve discusses his inspiration for devoting his career to cancer research and describes his keen observation of two cases of spontaneous cancer remission, driving him to learn how to harness the immune system to treat cancer. Steve’s personal story essentially serves as a roadmap for the field of immunotherapy, from the very non-specific therapies such as interleukin-2, the discovery of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, checkpoint inhibitors, CAR T-cells, and adoptive cell therapy. Perhaps most importantly, Steve expresses his optimism for what lies ahead, especially in the face of some of the more recent discoveries with respect to tumor antigenicity. Finally, Steve discusses the human side of cancer which helps him to never lose sight of why he chose to become a physician. Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://bit.ly/4c602k2 We discuss: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:10 - Steve’s childhood and inspiration to become a physician and medical researcher 00:11:05 - Patients that influenced Steve’s thinking about cancer and altered the course of his career 00:17:42 - The discovery of antigen presentation, Steve’s first job, and why he knew he wanted to study cancer 00:25:42 - Cancer treatment in the early 1970’s and Steve’s intuition to utilize lymphocytes 00:30:56 - Cancer cells vs. non-cancer cells, and why metastatic cancer is so deadly 00:37:50 - The problem with chemotherapy and promise of immunotherapy 00:43:00 - How the immune system works and why it seems to allow cancer to proliferate 00:52:00 - Steve discovers how to use interleukin-2 to mediate cancer regression 01:04:56 - The immunogenic nature of certain cancers and the role of mutations in cancer 01:18:09 - The improbable story of how CAR T cell therapy was developed 01:30:07 - The discovery of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and engineering of T cells to recognize specific antigens 01:38:40 - Steve’s experience treating President Ronald Reagan’s colon cancer 01:44:05 - Why Steve has turned down many tempting job offers to focus on his research at the National Cancer Institute 01:46:24 - The role of checkpoint inhibitors in cancer therapy and the promise of adoptive cell therapy 01:50:07 - Optimism for using immunotherapy to cure all cancers 01:56:18 - The human side of cancer and the important lessons Peter learned from working with Steve Show notes page: https://peterattiamd.com/stevenrosenberg/ -------- About: The Peter Attia Drive is a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking…and a few other things. With over 30 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more. Peter is a physician focusing on the applied science of longevity. His practice deals extensively with nutritional interventions, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, emotional and mental health, and pharmacology to increase lifespan (delay the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life). Learn more: https://peterattiamd.com Subscribe to receive exclusive subscriber-only content: https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://peterattiamd.com/newsletter Connect with Peter on: Facebook: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDFB Twitter: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDTW Instagram: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDIG Subscribe to The Drive: Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveApplePodcasts Overcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveOvercast Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheDriveSpotify Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TheDriveGoogle