Martin ‘Mac’ Cheever 1944-2021

His laboratory studies in the late 1970s convincingly showed that the immune system might be harnessed to stop cancer. Cheever is also renowned for his years of dedication in building a nationwide system of clinical trials to prove these new therapies are safe and effective for cancer patients. Throughout his career, Cheever advanced understanding in a new field that eventually led to therapies such as checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T cells. Cheever’s work on tumor-related proteins that trigger immune responses also informed ongoing development of cancer vaccines.

CIMT founder and board member Christoph Huber remembers Mac Cheever as “an outstanding scientist and generous colleague. He was a friend of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy and we will miss his advice and support.”