The legacy of Thomas Tursz: building a leading comprehensive cancer center in Europe
Authors: J.-C. Soria, J. Baselga, M. Piccart
Journal: Annals of Oncology (2018)

Thomas Tursz, one of the most prominent figures in European oncology, died suddenly and prematurely on 27 April 2018, at the age of 71 years [1.Cabut S. Le cancérologue Thomas Tursz est mort.Le Monde. 2018; https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2018/05/03/le-cancerologue-thomas-tursz-est-mort_5293900_3382.htmlGoogle Scholar]. During a highly distinguished career, Prof. Tursz made key contributions to modern oncology and transformed Institut Gustave Roussy into one of the world’s leading cancer centers. He was, without a doubt, among the leaders of a generation of physician-scientists who brought forward the field of oncology from an early discipline to one of hope and promise. Here, on behalf of his many colleagues, trainees, and friends, we celebrate his life and honor his memory by reviewing his many accomplishments. Thomas Tursz was born in Cracow, Poland, in 1946. He trained in Paris in internal medicine, clinical immunology, and oncology, subsequently joining Institut Gustave Roussy in 1976 as a clinical scientist. There he rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming the head of the Tumor Immuno-biology laboratory in 1979, Professor of Oncology at University Paris-Sud in 1986, and head of the inpatient medical oncology ward in 1986. In 1993, he was appointed Chairman of the Medical Oncology Department and served as the institution’s leader, the General Director of the Institut Gustave Roussy, from October 1994 until September 2010. At the helm of the Institut Gustave Roussy, he was a truly transformative force. Shortly after being appointed to lead the largest cancer center in Europe, Thomas stated, ‘I shall make IGR a place of hope’. This promise was meant for both patients and their families but also for the personnel of the institute. In his 16-year tenure as General Director, Thomas displayed an extraordinary vision and a keen scientific taste, along with an abundance of energy and courage. He modernized the institution, attracted and nurtured exceptionally talented physicians and scientists, and launched ambitious prospective programs in gene therapy, precision medicine, and immunotherapy [2.Tursz T. An interview with Professor Thomas Tursz.Eur J Cancer. 2002; 38: 319.PubMed Google Scholar]. As a scientist, he had infinite curiosity, developing numerous models to better understand the pathophysiology of Epstein-Barr Virus-induced malignant cancers. His research laboratory established globotriaosylceramide, a monoclonal antibody that specifically recognizes Burkitt lymphoma cells, and described the enzymatic mechanism that leads to the overexpression of that target [3.Nudelman E. Kannagi R. Hakomori S. et al.A glycolipid antigen associated with Burkitt lymphoma defined by a monoclonal antibody.Science. 1983; 220: 509-511Crossref PubMed Scopus (193) Google Scholar, 4.Wiels J. Fellous M. Tursz T. Monoclonal antibody against a Burkitt lymphoma-associated antigen.Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1981; 78: 6485-6488Crossref PubMed Scopus (148) Google Scholar]. Thomas Tursz made massive investments in the expansion and improvement of the infrastructure of the clinical and research facilities at Institut Gustave Roussy. He cared deeply about patients and their families, and many of his initiatives are a testament of this commitment. To improve the patient experience, in 2005 Thomas opened a large, state-of-the-art outpatient facility with 100 treatment points. He also established a centralized patient-friendly consultation facility that was located purposefully on the ground level for ease of access. This facility significantly reduced patient traffic within the hospital by avoiding vertical movement and greatly humanized the consultation environment through the use of an indoor garden and the architectural enhancement of external light. In addition, he implemented a centralized operating-room facility that improved the efficiency of OR occupancy. Finally, on the patient care side, he established a department devoted to supportive care, while launching a fully dedicated ward to early clinical trials. Thomas Tursz’s motto was to ‘reconciliate science and humanity’ for the benefit of cancer patients. He was a great proponent of the integration of clinical research and patient care, and to this end he created a dedicated laboratory and clinical ward for gene therapy trials in patients with lung cancer. Going further, he merged the biology and pathology departments into a single unified biopathology facility with commonly shared modern laboratory capabilities. Finally, he implemented an ISO-certified transcriptomic facility within the research building with the dual ambition of performing basic research and clinical transcriptomic read-outs for precision medicine. Thomas Tursz was a powerful magnet for attracting talent. He hired the world-renowned cancer biologist and immunologist Guido Kroemer to Gustave Roussy in 2000 [5.Guido K. 2018https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations? user=OU05Q_MAAAAJ&hl=enGoogle Scholar]. He brought in Laurence Zitvogel to lead the immunotherapy research program in 2000. He also recruited Caroline Robert, who today is one of the indisputable world experts in melanoma, from industry in 2001. Thomas was also responsible for the hiring of the two top breast cancer experts at Gustave Roussy, Fabrice Andre, and Suzette Delaloge. Other notable additions include Karim Fizazi, who became an international expert in prostate cancer, and Eric Deutsch, today’s leading European radiation therapy expert. Thomas Tursz was a sincere and enthusiastic supporter of ‘women in oncology’ at a time where the medical oncology world was exclusively dominated by men. He helped creating links between the women he admired most, convinced that this was a concrete first step in the direction of a more balanced leaderships in the European medical oncology community. Tursz not only hired exceptional talents, but as exceptional leaders do, he also created the atmosphere where talent flourished in all areas. In a few years, the Institut Gustave Roussy became the place to be, where the best minds were tackling big medical and scientific challenges with an unparalleled sense of mission and camaraderie. Prof. Tursz had unique scientific taste and vision and rightly invested in visionary programs, including gene therapy in lung cancer [6.Tursz T. Cesne A.L. Baldeyrou P. et al.Phase I study of a recombinant adenovirus-mediated gene transfer in lung cancer patients.J Natl Cancer Inst. 1996; 88: 1857-1863Crossref PubMed Scopus (98) Google Scholar], precision medicine [7.Tursz T. Andre F. Lazar V. et al.Implications of personalized medicine—perspective from a cancer center.Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2011; 8: 177-183Crossref PubMed Scopus (50) Google Scholar], and immunotherapy [8.Zitvogel L. Angevin E. Tursz T. Dendritic cell-based immunotherapy of cancer.Ann Oncol. 2000; 11: 199-205Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar]. His support of immunotherapy largely preceded the advent of immune checkpoint blockers. He was involved in the clinical development of cytokines, notably interleukin-2 in renal cancer [9.Negrier S. Escudier B. Lasset C. et al.Recombinant human interleukin-2, recombinant human interferon alfa-2a, or both in metastatic renal-cell carcinoma. Groupe Francais d'Immunotherapie.N Engl J Med. 1998; 338: 1272-1278Crossref PubMed Scopus (891) Google Scholar]. He also was involved in exploring the value of exosomes and the use of dendritic cells for cancer vaccination [8.Zitvogel L. Angevin E. Tursz T. Dendritic cell-based immunotherapy of cancer.Ann Oncol. 2000; 11: 199-205Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, 10.Andre F. Schartz N.E. Movassagh M. et al.Malignant effusions and immunogenic tumour-derived exosomes.Lancet. 2002; 360: 295-305Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (762) Google Scholar]. In the setting of precision medicine, he was an advocate of the identification of chemotherapy-related biomarkers, notably ERCC1 [11.Olaussen K.A. Dunant A. Fouret P. et al.DNA repair by ERCC1 in non-small-cell lung cancer and cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy.N Engl J Med. 2006; 355: 983-991Crossref PubMed Scopus (1569) Google Scholar]. He encouraged Fabrice Andre to build a dedicated INSERM unit focused on the identification of molecular biomarkers for cancer therapy and was an advocate of early trials in precision medicine. At the international level, Thomas Tursz was a strong supporter of collaboration among countries and institutions. He made a vital contribution to the challenging construction of the BIG-EORTC MINDACT (Microarray In Node negative Disease may Avoid ChemoTherapy) trial [12.Cardoso F. van't Veer L.J. Bogaerts J. et al.70-Gene signature as an aid to treatment decisions in early-stage breast cancer.N Engl J Med. 2016; 375: 717-729Crossref PubMed Scopus (1070) Google Scholar], which recruited more than 6600 women with early breast cancer across nine European countries, by becoming its ‘ambassador’ in France, the country that contributed the largest number of participants. There was little doubt for him that progress in molecular diagnostics was terribly slow in Europe and that this trial was the first one to tackle this issue seriously and, therefore, the one most likely to profoundly impact the quality of adjuvant chemotherapy decision making by demonstrating the clinical utility of a multigene prognostic signature (Mammaprint). Thomas Tursz played a number of important roles at the EORTC, including for the Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group, for which he served as Secretary, as Chairman from 1993 to 1996, and as Vice President from 2006 to 2009. He was President of the International Association for Research on the Epstein-Barr Virus and Associated Diseases from 1994 to 1996. He became the President of the Organization of European Cancer Institutes from 2002 to 2005, during which time he implemented specific accreditation criteria for dedicated cancer centers. In 2008, with MD Anderson Cancer Center President John Mendelsohn, he co-founded the Worldwide Innovative Network (WIN) consortium, with the aim of advancing precision medicine in oncology. Today this consortium encompasses 40 institutions located in 19 countries and has launched various prospective-medicine trials [13.Rodon J. Soria J.C. Berger R. et al.Challenges in initiating and conducting personalized cancer therapy trials: perspectives from WINTHER, a Worldwide Innovative Network (WIN) Consortium trial.Ann Oncol. 2015; 26: 1791-1798Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (59) Google Scholar]. Prof. Tursz was also conscious of the need to inform the wider public, which he did through two books: The Medical Revolution in 2003 and New Cancer Medicine, History and Hope in 2013. Thomas’s legacy in oncology will be a lasting one, and his memory and example will continue to illuminate the careers of French and European oncologists around the world. At a time of great promise and challenges in medicine and science, the figure of Thomas Tursz emerges as a powerful example of the critical importance of true leaders and visionaries in our field. None declared.