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Brenton Huggins)

IntroductionUntil the 1940's, little was known

about the behavior of prostatic cancerand almost nothing had been postulatedon its relationship to a hormonal environment. Prostatic cancer was considered a hopeless disease and, even thoughStrom experimented with estrogens forthe relief of pain, treatment was severelylimited. Alexander and Ethel Gutmancontributed to the knowledge of the biochemistry of this disease when theydemonstrated, in papers written between1936 and 1938, that prostatic cancer andits metastases secreted greater than normal levels of the enzyme, acid phosphatase. Using the Gutmans' work andproposing a new theory, Charles B.Huggins and his student Clarence V.Hodges established, in 1941, a definiterelationship between hormones andcancer of the prostate. Huggins andHodges showed that prostatic cancerwas dramatically affected by castrationor administration of estrogens, treatmentwhich reduced the levels of acidphosphatase. Huggins' observation thatthe synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrolcaused regression in disseminatedprostatic cancer initiated the era ofcancer chemotherapy.

The following reprinted paper was thefirst in a series of three articles by Huggins and his students Hodges and Scott,describing the activation of prostaticcancer by androgens and its inhibitionby the antiandrogenic effects of orchiectomy and estrogens. The antiandrogenic

therapy they proposed proved effective ashort time later, and was adoptedthroughout the world.

As a physician, Charles Hugginsdedicated himself to returning cancerpatients to active and useful lives; andyet, as a research scientist, he also provided insight into the nature of cancer.Convinced by the results of his clinicalstudies, he was not reluctant to contradict the old belief that cancer was autonomous and self-perpetuating. Certaincancers, Dr. Huggins concluded, retainthe biochemical properties of their cellsof origin; if the normal cells were dependent on hormones for metabolic activityat a high rate, the cancer cells would alsobe dependent and would atrophy whenhormonal support is withdrawn. Dr.Huggins also found that cancer couldbe sustained and propagated bynormal hormonal production. Theprinciple of hormone-dependence hassince been applied to other human andanimal tumors.

Charles Huggins was born on September 22, 1901 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was educated at Acadia University in Nova Scotia and Harvard MedicalSchool, and trained in surgery at theUniversity of Michigan. In 1927, hebegan his career as a urologist at the University of Chicago, a member of theoriginal faculty of the School of Medicine.

The University of Chicago was one ofthe first institutions to employ full-time

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Charles(1901.-

salaried physicians in its hospital, andthis policy initially discouraged the referral of many patients. During a relatively quiet period, Huggins, inspired byhis Chief of Surgery, Dr. Dallas B. Phemister, began his urological research.Phemister sent Huggins to Europefor further training in clinical urology;his interests, however, led him to SirRobert Robison's laboratory in London,where for several months he studiedphosphate esters and phosphatases.This experience with Robison providedgroundwork for his later studies onprostatic cancer.

In the years that followed at the University of Chicago, Huggins studiedbone formation and calcification, thephysiology and biochemistry of the malereproductive tract, circulating proteinsas indicators of disease, adrenalectomyfor human breast cancer and the effectsof polycylcic aromatic hydrocarbons onthe induction of rat mammary tumors.

In 1966, 25 years after his first workon the relationship of the endocrine system to prostatic function, Charles Huggins, who had already received manymedals and citations for the scope of hisinvestigations, was awarded the NobelPrize in Medicine. Dr. Huggins was aco-recipient with Peyton Rous, whomhehascalled his “¿�hero,―of the firstNobel Prize for cancer research given in40 years. After a lifetime in the laboratory, Huggins felt that the honor of anaward was limited compared to the excitement of discovery and the esteem ofhis colleagues. He spoke to reportersabout receiving the Nobel Prize and expressed his pleasure, but also his impatience: “¿�Aprize is not one of the greatevents of life,―he said, “¿�likebirth ormarriage.― He was eager to get back tothe laboratory.

A sign in the Ben May Laboratory forCancer Research at the University of

Chicago, which Huggins directed until1969, reflects the enthusiasm for discovery which pervades his career and hasinfluenced hundreds of students. It says,“¿�Discoveryis our business.―

Throughout his life, Charles Hugginshas found great joy in posing difficultquestions and seeking to answer them.He once said, “¿�Doingscience in the universities is one of the most pleasantvocations of man. One must give everything, but one receives much in return.One pits his wits against apparently inscrutable nature, wooing her with ardor.Nature is blind justice who cannot recognize personal identity. She can refuse to speak, but she cannot give awrong answer. She is an unsophisticated, buxom lass who can be cajoledbut not forced; her vocabulary consistsof three words—yes, no, and perhaps. Itis the genius of research to frame a question so simply that a conditional answeris prohibited.―

Recently, a cancer research laboratory in Genzano di Roma, Italy wasnamed after Huggins, and he was appointed Chancellor of his alma mater,Acadia University.

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