Tony Hunter is American Cancer Society Professor in the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory and Renato Dulbecco Chair. He is a cell biologist and cancer researcher who studies how cells regulate their growth and division, and how mutations in genes that regulate cell growth lead to cancer. In 1979, his lab discovered that phosphate can be attached to the amino acid tyrosine in proteins. Based on Hunter’s findings, the drug Gleevec was developed as a targeted therapy for a leukemia driven by a mutated enzyme that adds phosphates to tyrosine in proteins in an uncontrolled manner. This early success has now led to the development of a new class of cancer drugs that target misbehaving tyrosine kinases. Currently, Hunter’s group is focused on identifying growth factors and cytokines produced in the pancreatic cancer microenvironment to promote tumor progression.
