Fox Chase Cancer Center has contributed two articles to the Cancer History Project, documenting the impact of Paul Grotzinger and Gerald “Jerry” Hanks.
Grotzinger, a surgical oncologist and early leader at Fox Chase, was instrumental in establishing the center’s clinical program. Hanks, a radiation oncologist, pioneered the routine use in the U.S. of CT and MRI in planning radiation treatment, and the use of ultrasound to improve the treatment accuracy.
Grotzinger died Feb. 26, 2002, at 83 (The Cancer Letter, Mach 15, 2002). He is honored at Fox Chase through an annual Grotzinger Lectureship and the Paul Grotzinger and Wilbur Raab Chair in Surgical Oncology, which is currently held by Stephen C. Rubin.
Hanks died Dec. 20, 2017, at 83 (The Cancer Letter, Jan. 5, 2018). The Gerald E. Hanks Chair in Radiation Oncology is currently held by Eric M. Horwitz.
These articles first appeared in 2023 issues of Forward magazine, which is published twice a year by Fox Chase Cancer Center.
Paul Grotzinger: A Father Figure for Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Clinical Program
By Marian Auriemma, Fox Chase Cancer Center, April 25, 2024
A pioneering leader of Fox Chase Cancer Center’s clinical program from 1960 into the 1980s, surgeon Paul Grotzinger is remembered for his unwavering dedication to patient care and his innovative approach to integrating research and clinical care through meaningful relationships.
“He was a strong leader who followed his goals and his rules. When he had staff meetings he ran them like he was the captain of the ship,” said Paul Engstrom, Professor Emeritus at Fox Chase, who worked closely with Grotzinger.
But this firm approach to leadership did not take away from Grotzinger’s ability to form personal bonds with his colleagues.
“He seemed gruff and tough, but for those of us who got to work with him, he was amenable to new ideas and was really rather welcoming,” said Engstrom. “In some ways he was a father figure to me. I had moved from Minnesota and had no other family in the area. Dr. Grotzinger and his wife took my wife and I under their wing and we would do things with them socially.”
Gerald ‘Jerry’ Hanks: A Revolutionary in Radiation Oncology
By Marian Auriemma, Fox Chase Cancer Center, April 25, 2024
An influential faculty member at Fox Chase Cancer Center and a worldwide pioneer in radiation oncology, Gerald “Jerry” Hanks revolutionized the field and left a legacy for those who followed.
“His overarching goal in his career was essentially to figure out how to take technology and better treat cancer patients by integrating it into our radiation oncology practice. He was also a huge fan of using data to shape how you make treatment decisions,” said Eric Horwitz, Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Fox Chase and the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, and one of Hanks’ former mentees.
Hanks received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis before radiation oncology became a separate medical specialty.
By the 1960s, he became one of the first three residents in the United States to be trained specifically as a radiation oncologist at Stanford University.
After completing his residency, he held academic faculty appointments not only at Fox Chase but at Stanford, the University of North Carolina, and the University of Pennsylvania.
After working in private practice from 1971 to 1985, Hanks assumed the chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Fox Chase, a position he held for 16 years. While there, his advances included the first routine use in the United States of CT and MRI in planning radiation treatment and the use of ultrasound to improve the accuracy of each daily treatment.
“Jerry basically developed and put into practice the way to safely deliver higher doses of radiation more precisely, thereby curing more cancers with fewer side effects. This technique was called 3D conformal radiation therapy, and it revolutionized the practice of radiation oncology in the 1980s and 1990s,” said Horwitz.
Read more articles published by Fox Chase Cancer Center in the Cancer History Project.
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.
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