As it was discussed in last month's post several doctors led the early developments of Radiation Oncology. The ones listed below led the specialty to maturity.
Frank Ellis (1905-2006) was a world leader in the field of Radiation Oncology. He studied medicine at the University of Sheffield in England. In 1943 he became the director of Radiation Therapy's department at Royal London Hospital. Ellis was the President of the British Institute of Radiology and remained active until his passing at the age of 100.
Gilbert Fletcher (1911-1992) was born and educated in Paris. He was a polymath and in addition to his medical degree, he had several others such as in Greek and Latin languages, Engineering and Physics. He did a fellowship at Royal Cancer Hospital in London. He was recruited to head the department of Radiology at M.D. Anderson hospital in Houston. Dr. Fletcher practiced both diagnostic and therapeutic radiology something common in that era. He rejected the prevailing opinion that large tumors should receive a lower radiation dose. He was instrumental in the designing of first Cobalt-60 unit and pioneered the high energy beam units such as the Betatron and the Linear accelerator.
Herman Suit (1929-2022) was born in Waco Texas and got his MD degree from Baylor Medical School. He got a PhD in Radiation Oncology at the University of Oxford where he studied the effect of Radiation on the cellularity of bone marrow. Upon his return to the US he went to the National Cancer Institute to soon move to M.D. Anderson hospital in Houston. It was at M.D. Anderson that under the tutorship of Dr. Fletcher he established the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas with radiation therapy and conservative therapy instead of amputation. He also developed the Fletcher-Suit applicator for intra-cavitary radiation of women with cervical and/or endometrial cancer. In 1970, he became Professor at Harvard and Head of Radiation Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr. Suit's lifetime achievements cannot be overstated regarding his studies of the response of tumors and normal tissues to radiation therapy. He used his wide radiobiological and clinical knowledge to advance the safe and successful use of radiation therapy whether through fractionation, radiation doses based on tumor size or integration of radiation therapy with surgery and chemotherapy.
Ellis, Fletcher, Suit and many others created the specialty of Radiation Oncology as we known it today.
This post is dedicated to the late Drs Edwin Liebner Chief of Radiation Therapy and Virginia Patterson Chief of Nuclear Medicine who offered me a position in the University of Illinois residency in 1971. Also to the late Dr. Vlastimil Capek the Chairman of the Department who took me under his wing and was a second father to me.
