“I started my work to fight against myeloid leukemia”

Awarded 7th BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine, physician Charles Sawyers explains in this interview how his research in targeted therapies has transformed the treatment of various types of cancer. Sawyers details how understanding the genetic alterations that drive tumor proliferation led to the development of drugs capable of specifically blocking the pathways that fuel the disease, achieving decisive advances in prostate cancer and chronic myeloid leukemia. He also reflects on the current challenges of precision oncology—such as treatment resistance—and the need to continue integrating basic research, molecular biology, and clinical trials to improve patients’ lives.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Biomedicine category is shared in this seventh edition by Tony Hunter, Joseph Schlessinger and Charles L. Sawyers, for carving out the path that led to the development of a new class of successful cancer drugs.