title: Portrait of Dr Michael G. Hanna, Jr. A pioneer in active specific immunotherapy of cancer.
abstract: While a PhD candidate, doing my thesis at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Biology Division under Dr. Charles Congdon, my introduction to the immune response was studying graft vs. host (GVH) disease as a consequence of bone marrow transplantation in mice. The sequalae of GVH was impressive, and demonstrated the potential of negative clinical consequences of the immune system. The idea of harnessing this immunological phenomena in cancer therapy was appealing even in the late 1960s. The problem was that at the time T-cells as a component of the immune system were identified but not defined. We moved to soluble antigen stimulation in mice and recognized and described the post antigen stimulation changes in lymphatic tissue germinal centers during the first 48 h after the induction of the humoral immune response. We described the extracellular localization of soluble antigens on the surface of dendritic reticular cells of the stroma, directing a response of B-cells to produce antibody against non-self. The ensuing reaction was the rapid proliferation of B-cells toward antibody secreting plasma cells.
authors.affiliation: a Founder and Chairman Emeritus; Vaccinogen, Inc.; Frederick, MD USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanna
mesh_terms: D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines
keywords: Active Specific Immunotherapy; Autologous Tumor Cells; Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG); Bladder Cancer; Cancer Diversity; Cancer Genomic Heterogeneity; Cancer Vaccines; Germinal Centers; Lymphatic Tissue; Mechanism of Humoral Immunity; OncoVAX; Tumor Antigens