Spotlight article
- Janet Rowley, cancer genetics pioneer, 1925-2013
By University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center | Oct. 14, 2021
A pioneer in connecting the development of cancer with genetic abnormalities, Janet D. Rowley, the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago.
Before Rowley, few scientists suspected that chromosomal aberrations caused cancer. Beginning in the 1970s, however, she made a series of fundamental discoveries demonstrating that specific chromosomal changes caused certain types of leukemia.
Rowley’s discoveries changed the way cancer was understood, opened the door to development of drugs directed at the cancer-specific genetic abnormalities and created a model that still drives cancer research.
Quote of the week
Take risks. Do something different if it looks interesting… I didn’t do anything noteworthy until I was 50. Success often involves a great deal of luck. Some people don’t like to hear that because it means there are things out of their control. But that’s the way it is.
Janet D. Rowley
1996: NCCS commemorates 10 years
The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship celebrated its 10 year anniversary in 1996. In a newsletter commemorating the occasion in the summer/fall newsletter of 1996, NCCS included a section: “NCCS then and now,” comparing its first newsletter in 1986, to 1996.
In 1986, survivorship was considered a new part of the field. An editorial from the organization’s first president, Fitzhugh Mullan, begins: “I want to welcome you to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship—a new organization, a new idea, a new movement.”
Ten years later, 1996 NCCS President Betsy Clark wrote what NCCS had achieved since its inception.
“Our founders called for more research on survivorship issues; the National Cancer Institute responded by establishing an Office of Cancer Survivorship last summer.
A decade of vigorous advocacy in the policy arena has helped secure portability of insurance, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and FDA reform.”
The Cancer History Project has compiled an archive of newsletters from NCCS from 1986 through 1997. In 2021, NCCS will be celebrating 35 years.
- NCCS Networker Volume 10 Issue 2, Summer/Fall 1996 Special Commemorative Issue
By National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship | Aug. 13, 1996
Recent contributions
- Photo Archive: Franco Muggia: in photographs
By Cancer History Project | Oct. 14, 2021 - ASCO Position Statement: Strategies for Reducing Cancer Health Disparities Among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations
By ASCO | Oct. 11, 2021
This column features the latest posts to the Cancer History Project by our growing list of contributors.
The Cancer History Project is a free, web-based, collaborative resource intended to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Cancer Act and designed to continue in perpetuity. The objective is to assemble a robust collection of historical documents and make them freely available.
Access to the Cancer History Project is open to the public at CancerHistoryProject.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @CancerHistProj.
Is your institution a contributor to the Cancer History Project? Eligible institutions include cancer centers, advocacy groups, professional societies, pharmaceutical companies, and key organizations in oncology.
To apply to become a contributor, please contact admin@cancerhistoryproject.com.
