A Tradition of Excellence: Groundbreaking Research Past and Present

A History of Innovation

For more than 50 years, the University of Chicago has been a leader in cancer research. Its scientists and clinicians have consistently expanded the boundaries of knowledge and transformed cancer care and prevention. The University of Chicago is hallowed ground in the history of cancer research.

In fact, seminal discoveries made at the University have supported the development and introduction of the majority of the cancer treatments we use today. As the examples below demonstrate, we can trace many of the roots of chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, gene therapy and bone marrow transplantation to the University of Chicago.

Dr. Leon Jacobson and his colleagues administered the first successful cancer chemotherapy. In 1943, Dr. Jacobson used a specific cancer chemotherapeutic agent, nitrogen mustard, to treat patients with leukemia and lymphoma.

Dr. Jacobson was also instrumental in the development of bone marrow transplantation. In the late 1940s, he discovered that he could save a mouse that had its bone marrow and spleen destroyed with radiation by transplanting healthy spleen tissue from another animal into the mouse. He found that cells from the spleen repopulated the marrow and restored the production of blood cells. Today, our pediatric and adult bone marrow transplant programs treat about 100 patients a year for leukemia, lymphoma, various solid tumors, and genetic diseases.

In 1966, Dr. Charles Huggins, the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Surgery, received the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for his fundamental work in hormonal therapy for prostate cancer. His research offered scientists a new perspective on the behavior of all cancer cells.

Dr. Huggins later demonstrated that cancer cells did not emerge spontaneously but required the stimulus of chemical signals to grow and multiply. He proved that suppressing the signaling process could stop widespread metastasis.

Dr. Janet Rowley, the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, made breakthroughs vital to the understanding of the relationships between genetics and cancer and opened the door to effective therapies for leukemias and lymphomas. In 1973, Dr. Rowley identified a genetic translocation (a chromosomal anomaly) in patients suffering from a cancer of the blood called chronic myelogenous leukemia. This insight proved central to our understanding of the relationships between genetics and malignancy, and initiated a flurry of discoveries concerning other types of leukemias and lymphomas. Dr. Rowley won the 1998 Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research (informally known as the "American Nobel"). She is also a recipient of the National Medal of Science.

Dr. Elwood Jensen, formerly the Charles B. Huggins Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Ben May Institute, won the 2004 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. According to the award citation, Dr. Jensen's discoveries "revolutionized the fields of endocrinology and metabolism." During his 35-year career at the University, Dr. Jensen developed procedures to predict whether patients with breast cancer would benefit from hormonal therapy.