Francisco J. Esteva, Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Some therapies divide oncology into a clear “before” and “after.” Trastuzumab is one of them.
When I was a medical oncology fellow, trastuzumab was still an experimental monoclonal antibody in late-stage clinical trials. Targeting HER2—a newly identified oncogenic driver—was scientifically compelling but clinically uncertain. Few anticipated how profoundly it would change the treatment of breast cancer and other solid tumors.
My early career took shape during this transformation, spanning laboratory research, translational work, and clinical studies. I had the privilege of learning from scientists involved in the discovery of the neu oncogene and its human counterpart, HER2. I greatly admire Dennis Slamon, who led the clinical development of trastuzumab from its earliest days in the 1990s and laid the foundation for what followed. At MD Anderson Cancer Center, my first clinical trials evaluated trastuzumab in combination with taxanes, alongside laboratory work focused on resistance. In 2004, our group reported synergism between trastuzumab and pertuzumab, helping establish the concept of dual HER2 blockade that remains central today.
I recently learned that ScholarGPS ranked my work #2 globally, lifetime, in trastuzumab research. The scholar ranked #1, José Baselga, made foundational contributions that reshaped this field and is deeply missed. I view this recognition not as an individual milestone, but as a reflection of decades of collaborative science—work I continue today at Northwell Cancer Institute.
What experimental therapy today do you think may become the next true “before and after” in oncology?”
More posts featuring Francisco J. Esteva.