Charles Gordon Zubrod (January 22, 1914 – January 19, 1999) was an American

oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

who played a prominent role in the introduction of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

for

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. He was one of the recipients of the 1972 Albert Lasker Awards in recognition of his contributions to the field, amongst many other doctorates and awards.

Life and work

Zubrod, an alumnus of the

Georgetown Preparatory School Georgetown Preparatory School (also known as Georgetown Prep) is a Jesuit college-preparatory school in North Bethesda, Maryland for boys in ninth through twelfth grade. It has a 93-acre (380,000 square meters) campus. It is the only Jesuit boar ...

(class of 1932), the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

(class of 1936), and

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

(1940 class), served in the U.S. army medical corps during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, where he worked on a replacement for

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...

in the treatment of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. The unit eventually discovered

chloroquine Chloroquine is a medication primarily used to prevent and treat malaria in areas where malaria remains sensitive to its effects. Certain types of malaria, resistant strains, and complicated cases typically require different or additional medi ...

. In 1946 he commenced work at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, and was appointed assistant professor of medicine and director of research at

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

in 1953. This position lasted briefly: he became clinical director of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

in 1954 and became head of the Division of Cancer Treatment of the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

in 1956 and scientific director in 1961. Here, he put an emphasis on the development of new chemotherapy agents and their use in

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...

s. He is credited with the introduction of the

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

-containing compounds (e.g.

cisplatin Cisplatin is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of cancers. These include testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, br ...

). Several other new classes of chemotherapeutics were identified under Zubrod's leadership. Zubrod's name is also connected to a widely used assessment scale for performance of cancer patients, the ''Performance Status of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) for Patients with Cancer'' ( Zubrod scale). Zubrod left the NCI in 1974, and became a professor and chair of the department of oncology at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

School of Medicine (now the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine) and served at the director of the Florida Comprehensive Cancer Center. He retired from this position in 1990.

Biography

* Frei III E. ''In Memoriam C. Gordon Zubrod MD''. J Clin Oncol 1999;17:1331-3. * A tribute to Dr. Charles Gordon Zubrod: January 22, 1914 - January 19, 1999. Miami, Fla.: University of Miami, 1999.

Books

* Sugarbaker, Everett V; Ketcham, Alfred S; Zubrod, C Gordon. Interdisciplinary cancer therapy : adjuvant therapy. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers, 1977. * Zubrod, C Gordon. Perspectives in cancer. In: Clinical Cancer Seminar (1975: Miami, Fla.). Hormones and Cancer. New York: Stratton Intercontinental Medical Book Corp., 1976.

Review papers

* Zubrod, CG.Historic milestones in curative chemotherapy. Semin Oncol. 1979 Dec;6(4):490-505. * Zubrod CG, Selawry O. The treatment of lung cancer. Adv Intern Med. 1978;23:451-67. * Zubrod CG. Present status of cancer chemotherapy. Life Sci. 1974 Mar 1;14(5):809-18. * Zubrod CG. Trends in chemotherapy research. Proc Can Cancer Conf. 1969;8:31-9. * Zubrod CG. The skin and antitumor drugs. Arch Dermatol. 1967 Nov;96(5):560-4.

External links

Columbia University obituary

obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Zubrod, Gordon American oncologists 1914 births 1999 deaths Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Recipients of the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award Georgetown Preparatory School alumni 20th-century American physicians

Life and work

See also

Biography

Books

Review papers

External links