Ronald Levy and the development of therapeutic antibodies

Biology

Ronald Levy

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and analyze the topic of Ronald Levy, the antibody hero. Specifically it will discuss his research and its contributions to health care around the world. Ronald Levy has done some of the most important and far-reaching research into antibodies and cancer in the world, which is why he is known as the "antibody hero" in many scientific circles.

Levy's research indicated that, "it was possible to generate monoclonal antibodies that would specifically recognize cancer cells inside the body and tag them for destruction" (Conger, 2004). That was research he found in 1976, while later research indicated that if you vaccinate a patient with proteins only found in cancer cells the cells can create a powerful response in the immune system against the cancer cells (Conger, 2004). Levy has always felt that understanding the immune system is a key to cancer research, and that using the body's own immune system to fight cancer simply makes sense.

Once his theories were proven, Levy's research focused on creating distinctive groups of antibodies for each unique patient's cancer and cells. However, this was too difficult and time consuming, although it did cure some cancer patients of their disease. Eventually, he and his partners discovered that they could use less specific cells found in certain B-cancer cells that still targeted cancer tumors. These cells all have a unique protein on the surface, and they help produce the antibodies that will attack cancer cells (Hobson, 2004). They developed this research into a drug, called "Rituxan," which is the first "monoclonal antibody" drug approved by the FDA (Conger, 2004). About 500,000 people receive the drug for cancer treatment each year. Eventually, Levy hopes to develop a vaccine against cancer using these techniques. He is also working on studies that look at genetics to figure out what people might be more prone to cancers and single them out for more aggressive cancer treatments.

Levy's research is certainly extremely important for health care around the world. Currently, it is treating at least 1/2 million people or more against cancer, and as the research continues it has the implication to cure cancer in even more people, and even develop into a vaccine that could guard against cancer before it develops. Probably one of the most important elements of this research is that the antibodies from the b-cells attack only the cancer cells, not the surrounding healthy cells, and so, they are far less invasive and intimidating than other types of treatment like radiation or surgery.

The drug Rituxan is also used in concert with other treatments to gain the best results in more patients, and the only downside so far has been that not all patients of certain cancer types, such as lymphoma, respond to the drug (Editors). That is Levy's biggest challenge for the future, to discover why all or most patients do not respond favorably to treatment. If he can discover that, the implications for future treatment and elimination of certain cancers is even more promising.