Breaking barriers: Edith Mitchell’s extraordinary life

Edith Mitchell came a long way from growing up on a Tennessee farm, to becoming a brigadier general and serving on the President’s Cancer Panel.

“It was making a plan, having a plan, and all of us had similar type plans that we needed to leave the farm—yes I grew up on a farm—and get out of town,” Mitchell, member of the President’s Cancer Panel, clinical professor of medicine and medical oncology, director of the Center to Eliminate Cancer Disparities, and associate director of diversity affairs at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson University. “Yes, you have success, but look back and pull somebody behind you, pull them up.”

Mitchell spoke with Robert Winn, director of VCU Massey Cancer Center and John Stewart, founding director of LSU Health/LCMC Health Cancer Center.

Words matter, Mitchell said, focusing on the oft-used euphemistic expression “implicit bias.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘implicit bias.’ If somebody can look at you and based on your color or your gender or some other aspect—that’s not implicit. That’s racism,” Mitchell said.

“It is well recognized that Black patients in a majority situation receive fewer minutes during a clinical consultation than white patients. That’s not implicit. That is a person making a decision based on other attributes of the patient’s physique—the color, maybe even what they’re wearing, how they speak, and other facets that are related to the individual patient,” she said.

In 1971, a young woman named Edith Mitchell, a native of Brownsville, Tenn., came to MCV and enrolled in the more rigorous three-year program. A year later, Mitchell was placed on Lawrence’s service in surgical oncology.

“Only select students could do surgery on Dr. Lawrence’s service,” said Mitchell, a clinical professor, director of the Center to Eliminate Cancer Disparities, program leader for gastrointestinal oncology at Thomas Jefferson University, and a member of the President’s Cancer Panel.

At the time, Black patients at MCV were treated at the E.G. Williams Hospital, and patients were seen in different areas based on race.

“But when it came to surgery and taking care of patients, I never saw Dr. Lawrence make a difference in what he did for the Black patients, compared to the white patients,” Mitchell said to The Cancer Letter. “And he never taught us to make a difference.”

Mitchell performed physical examinations and took histories on all patients, regardless of race.

“It was the situation where the Black patients were in one hospital, the whites were in another, and if a patient requested that this little Black girl not be a part of their medical team, Dr. Lawrence never went along with it.

“I never saw him make a difference in what he recommended to patients, or his management of patients based on race; and his insistence that I be included in the patient’s care,” Mitchell said. “And the patients could not elect to have me omitted from their care because of my skin. So, I can understand why he walked out of the Southern Surgical Association because they did not accept LaSalle Leffall.”

Mitchell was the first Black student to graduate from MCV’s three-year program. Before graduation, Lawrence gave her helpful advice.

“He said to me, ‘Edith, don’t ever put anything on a form in the next few years that you graduated in three years.’ And I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘There are some state statutes that state that you must have four years of medical school. You will not have four years of medical school. In fact, you won’t even have three. So, you don’t ever put that on a form, because you never know in what state you will apply for a license.’ We knew that racial things could be stumbling blocks. Somebody could use that against me.”

“White Coats for Black Lives extends much further than the knowledge of the violence, a knowledge of the killing of young men and women by police, a knowledge of the police brutality against blacks. Consequently, all of this affects health care,” Edith P. Mitchell said to The Cancer Letter.

“If you don’t step out, there is no middle ground. We’ve got to be anti-racist, and every person in their position, in the medical field, needs to speak out, step out and do what we need to do so that we are removing the knee from the neck in all areas.

“We can therefore face a world of equity, health care equity, for all. It’s not only ethically the right thing to do, but for this country—for health care, for all, it’s the best instance.”

Mitchell: It is with great sadness that I share the recent passing of an oncology icon, Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr. As said by Dr. Wayne Frederick, a mentee, surgical oncologist, and president of Howard University, “He was a surgeon par excellence, oncologist, medical educator, civic leader, and mentor to me and so many others.”

I, too, was fortunate to be mentored by Leffall, who not only taught me about cancer, but also how to deliver the message to others. He was never too busy to talk and provided his cell phone number for me to call whenever I needed.

Mitchell: It is a great privilege and honor to have the opportunity to represent the National Medical Association in this tribute to Dr. Jane Cooke Wright. I first met Dr. Wright during an ASCO meeting and maintained subsequent contact.

She is affectionately known in the cancer research community as the mother of chemotherapy. She is not only known as the mother of chemotherapy, but Dr. Wright is listed in the Women Pioneers of Medical Research and among the top Medical Researchers.

As a researcher, physician, administrator, teacher, mentor, educator, her many discoveries have brought continued health into the lives of millions of people. Across the board, doctors and research scientists dedicated themselves to find cures and treatment for some of the most severe and significant diseases that have challenged mankind for many ages.

One such woman has left one such indelible mark in the world of medicine and medical disparities, not only in the fight against cancer, but against other diseases. You have already heard and most are aware of the research accomplishments of Dr. Jane Cooke Wright, including that she is credited with developing the technique of using human tissue culture rather than laboratory mice to test the effects of potential drugs on cancer cells.

Edith Mitchell was named president of the National Medical Association, at the organization’s 113th annual convention and scientific assembly in Detroit Aug 4. Mitchell is a professor of medical oncology at Thomas Jefferson University.

“I am deeply honored to have been appointed as president-elect of this prestigious organization,” said Mitchell Aug. 3, who is also the program leader of Gastrointestinal Oncology and associate director for diversity programs at Thomas Jefferson University.

“There is still much work to be done with regards to disparities in medical treatment. I believe that we can all work together and make great strides to address barriers in helping underserved populations get better care and lead to better health care in our nation.”

Edith P. Mitchell will receive the AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship. 

This lectureship recognizes an outstanding scientist who has made meritorious contributions to the field of cancer research and who has, through leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of minority investigators in cancer research.

Immediate action must be taken to ensure more effective and equitable implementation of cancer screening, according to a report released by the President’s Cancer Panel. 

The report, titled “Closing Gaps in Cancer Screening: Connecting People, Communities, and Systems to Improve Equity and Access,” states that many Americans—particularly those in communities of color and socially or economically disadvantaged populations—are presenting with more advanced disease at the time of diagnosis, enduring aggressive treatment, or dying from cancers that could have been detected at earlier, more treatable stages. Additionally, the panel found that many people do not receive timely, appropriate follow-up care after an abnormal result.

The ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group has renamed its Group Meeting Attendance Awards for Minority Trainees to the Edith Peterson Mitchell, MD Health Equity Travel Scholarships.

Researchers who identify with a minority group can apply for funding—now known as the Edith Peterson Mitchell, MD Health Equity Travel Scholarships—to attend meetings organized by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group.

Founded in 2017 as the Group Meeting Attendance Awards for Minority Trainees, ECOG-ACRIN has renamed the scholarship in recognition of Edith Mitchell’s contributions in health disparities research and mentorship of minority physician-scientists.