Martínez MG, Toledo-Pereyra LH

Language: Spanish
References: 14
Page: 194-203
PDF size: 777.22 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Objective: Narrate life and legacy of Charles Brenton Huggins.
Design: Historic essay (14 references).
Setting: University Department of History.
Results: Charles Brenton Huggins was born in Canada on September 22, 1901. He graduated as Bachelor in Arts from Acadia University and obtained his MD degree from Harvard University in 1924. He received his surgical training at University of Michigan and was appointed instructor in surgery at the University of Chicago in 1927, where he performed the rest of his professional activity. Huggins showed the sexual hormone influences over the glandular activity of the prostate and described orchiectomy as a treatment for prostate carcinoma with excellent results. As a scientist, Huggins expanded the horizon of the hormonal therapy against different tumors such as breast cancer. He studied the cellular transformation phenomenon, calcium metabolism and developed animal models for oncologic diseases as the Director of the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research and Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago. Surgeon, researcher, husband and father, Huggins was an extremely dedicated man to his scientific mission without pause and rest; moreover, he created a multidisciplinary school of scientists to the service of medicine and science. He was awarded with multiple medals and prizes, including the Nobel Prize of Physiology and Medicine in 1966. He died on January 12, 1997, being his life and example a model and stimuli for the following generations.

REFERENCES

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14. Division of Biological Sciences. The University of Chicago. Charles Brenton Huggins, MD, Nobel Laureate Physioloy and Medicine 1966. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966.