Eleanor Montague
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Eleanor D. Montague (February 11, 1926 – November 9, 2018) was an American
radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiatio ...
and educator who established breast-conserving therapy in the United States and improved radiation therapy techniques. She became a member of the
Texas Women's Hall of Fame The Texas Women's Hall of Fame was established in 1984 by the Governor's Commission on Women. The honorees are selected biennially from submissions from the public. The honorees must be either native Texans, or a resident of Texas at the time of th ...
in 1993.


Early life

Montague was born Eleanor Dino in
Genoa, Italy Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...
, the only child of Frank and Sylvia Dino. Her family moved to Eastern
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
when she was in elementary school, where she remained until graduating valedictorian of her high school class.


Career

Montague received a bachelor's degree in
biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
from the
University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
and an MD from the
Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP) was founded in 1850, and was the second medical institution in the world established to train women in medicine to earn the M.D. degree. The New England Female Medical College had been established ...
in 1950. She met her husband, Meredith "Monty" Montague III, while working in the emergency room at
Kings County Hospital Center Kings County Hospital Center is a municipal hospital located in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is owned and operated by NYC Health + Hospitals, a municipal agency that runs New York City's public hospitals. It has ...
; she overheard him saying that he would never marry a woman doctor. They became friends and then were married a few years later. She worked in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
for two years while her husband was stationed at a MASH unit there. She completed her residency in radiology at
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (NYP/CUIMC), also known as the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), is an academic medical center and the largest campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. It includes Co ...
. In 1959, Montague joined the radiotherapy department at the
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers ...
under an
American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...
fellowship. She was employed at MD Anderson from 1961 to 1983. In 1973, she became a radiotherapy professor. She retired in 1987. Montague was a pioneer in
breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...
research and treatment. During the 1960s-70s,
mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operat ...
was considered the only cure for breast cancer. Montague instead advocated for
lumpectomy Lumpectomy (sometimes known as a tylectomy, partial mastectomy, breast segmental resection or breast wide local excision) is a surgical removal of a discrete portion or "lump" of breast tissue, usually in the treatment of a malignant tumor or brea ...
, a more moderate surgery, combined with radiation therapy to preserve breast function and appearance for patients with early-stage breast cancer. Following clinical trials and a treatment program Montague initiated at Anderson, breast-conserving therapy became established practice in the United States. Montague also pioneered new radiation therapy techniques and approaches for patients with advanced breast cancer and paved the way for
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 ...
to become part of a multimodal treatment approach. An award in her name, the Eleanor Montague Distinguished Resident Award in Radiation Oncology, was created by the American Association for Women Radiologists. She was a member of the board of directors for the American Cancer Society of Therapeutic Radiologists and of the executive of the American Radium Society. Montague served on the National Breast Cancer Task Force and with the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project.


Publications

Montague was a prolific scholar, publishing more than 100 articles during her career. A partial list of her publications: * Montague, E. D. (1967). Current cancer concepts. radiation management of advanced breast cancer. ''JAMA : The Journal of the American Medical Association,'' 200(7), 612-612. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.200.7.612 * Tapley, N. D., & Montague, E. D. (1976). Elective irradiation with the electron beam after mastectomy for breast cancer. ''American Journal of Roentgenology'' (1976), 126(1), 127. * Libshitz, H. I., Montague, E. D., & Paulus, D. D. (1977). Calcifications and the therapeutically irradiated breast. ''American Journal of Roentgenology'' (1976), 128(6), 1021. * Libshitz, H. I., Montague, E. D., & Paulus, J., D D. (1978). Skin thickness in the therapeutically irradiated breast. ''American Journal of Roentgenology'' (1976), 130(2), 345. * Montague, E. D., & Fletcher, G. H. (1983). The need for every modality treatment to prevent catastrophic local and regional failures in advanced breast cancer. ''International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics'', 9(3), 419. * Montague, E. D. (1984). Conservation surgery and radiation therapy in the treatment of operable breast cancer. ''Cancer'', 53(3 Suppl), 700. * Montague, E. D., Ames, F. C., Schell, S. R., & Romsdahl, M. M. (1984). Conservation surgery and irradiation as an alternative to mastectomy in the treatment of clinically favorable breast cancer. ''Cancer'', 54(11 Suppl), 2668. * Montague, E. D. (1985). Radiation therapy and breast cancer. past, present, and future. ''American Journal of Clinical Oncology'', 8(6), 455. * Chen, K. K., Montague, E. D., & Oswald, M. J. (1985). Results of irradiation in the treatment of locoregional breast cancer recurrence. ''Cancer'', 56(6), 1269. * Matthews, R. H., McNeese, M. D., Montague, E. D., & Oswald, M. J. (1988). Prognostic implications of age in breast cancer patients treated with tumorectomy and irradiation or with mastectomy. ''International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics'', 14(4), 659.


Awards

*Janeway Medal by the
American Radium Society The American Radium Society is a medical association devoted to the study and treatment of cancer. It was founded in 1916. The Society's original mission was to further "the scientific study of radium in relation to its physical properties and the ...
in 1985 *Gold Medal of the
Radiological Society of North America The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) is a non-profit organization and an international society of radiologists, medical physicists and other medical imaging professionals representing 31 radiologic subspecialties from 145 countries a ...
in 1986 *Marie Curie Recipient by the American Association for Women Radiologists in 1990 *Gold Medal for Distinguished and Extraordinary Service to the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in 1992 *Alumna Award of Achievement by the Medical College of Pennsylvania *Distinguished Service Award and the Outstanding Achievement Award by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center *Gilbert H. Fletcher Society Gold Medal for outstanding achievement in her field.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montague, Eleanor 1926 births 2018 deaths American radiologists University of Alabama alumni Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni Italian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American scientists Women radiologists University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center faculty 21st-century American women