Andrzej Viktor "Andrew" Schally (30 November 1926 – 17 October 2024) was a Polish-American endocrinologist who was a co-recipient, with

Roger Guillemin Roger Charles Louis Guillemin (; January 11, 1924 – February 21, 2024) was a French-American neuroscientist. He received the National Medal of Science in 1976, and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1977 for ...

and

Rosalyn Sussman Yalow Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (July 19, 1921 – May 30, 2011) was an American medical physicist, and a co-winner of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (together with Roger Guillemin and Andrew Schally) for development of the radioimmunoass ...

, of the 1977

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

.Andrew V. Schally
"Andrew V. Schally"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. This award recognized his research in the discovery that the

hypothalamus The hypothalamus (: hypothalami; ) is a small part of the vertebrate brain that contains a number of nucleus (neuroanatomy), nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrin ...

controls hormone production and release by the

pituitary gland The pituitary gland or hypophysis is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, the pituitary gland is located at the base of the human brain, brain, protruding off the bottom of the hypothalamus. The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus contr ...

, which controls the regulation of other hormones in the body. Later in life, Schally utilized his knowledge of hypothalamic hormones to research possible methods for birth control and cancer treatment.

Life and career

Andrzej Wiktor SchallyAleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm. ''Love for Family, Friends, and Books.'' Rowman & Littlefield, 2015
p. 246.
was born in

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

(now Vilnius, Lithuania), the son of Brigadier General Kazimierz Schally, who was chief of the cabinet of President

Ignacy Mościcki Ignacy Mościcki (; 1 December 1867 – 2 October 1946) was a Polish chemist and politician who was the country's president from 1926 to 1939. He was the longest serving president in Polish history. Mościcki was the President of Poland when Ge ...

of Poland, and Maria (née Łącka). In September 1939, when Poland was attacked by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Schally escaped with Poland's President

, the prime minister and the whole cabinet to the neutral Romania, where they were interned .

''I was fortunate to survive the holocaust while living among the Jewish-Polish Community in Roumania. I used to speak Polish, Roumanian, Yiddish, Italian and some German and Russian, but I have almost completely forgotten them, and my French in which I used to excel is also now far from fluent''.

Immediately after the war, in 1945, Schally moved via Italy and France to the United Kingdom where he changed his first name to Andrew. Schally received his education in Scotland and England. In 1952, he moved to Canada. He received his doctorate in

endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine system, endocrine'' + ''wikt:-logy#Suffix, -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the ...

from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in 1957. That same year he left for a research career in the United States where he has worked principally at

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

. Schally conducted research in endocrinology at the Miami Veteran's Administration Medical Center in Miami, Florida. A Canadian citizen when he left Canada, Schally became a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

of the United States in 1962. He was affiliated with the

Baylor College of Medicine The Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a private medical school in Houston, Texas, United States. Originally as the Baylor University College of Medicine from 1903 to 1969, the college became independent with the current name and has been se ...

for some years in Houston, Texas. Schally developed a new realm of knowledge concerning the brain's control over the body chemistry. Schally explained in his 1977 Nobel Lecture that he, alongside his researchers, dissected 250,000 pig hypothalami in order to isolate 5 mg of the hormone

thyrotropin-releasing hormone Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) is a hypophysiotropic hormone produced by neurons in the hypothalamus that stimulates the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) as well as prolactin from the anterior pituitary. TRH has been used ...

(TRH) to determine the molecular structure of the hormone. His work also addressed birth control methods and the effects of

growth hormone Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in ...

s on the body. Together with

he described the

neurohormone A neurohormone is any hormone produced and released by neuroendocrine cells (also called neurosecretory cells) into the blood. By definition of being hormones, they are secreted into the circulation for systemic effect, but they can also have a ro ...

gonadotropin-releasing hormone (

GnRH Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is a releasing hormone responsible for the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from the anterior pituitary. GnRH is a tropic peptide hormone synthesized and released ...

) that controls follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone ( LH), two hormones that are integral parts of reproduction and growth and development. Schally received an ''honoris causa'' doctors degree from the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. Recognized as a Fellow of the

Kosciuszko Foundation The Kosciuszko Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City. It was created by Stephen Mizwa to fund programs that promote Polish-American intellectual and artistic exchange. History The Polish American Scholarship Committee ...

of Eminent Scientists of Polish Origin and Ancestry. Schally was married to Margaret Rachel White (divorced), and Ana Maria de Medeiros-Comaru. He died at his home in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, on 17 October 2024, at the age of 97.

Cancer research

In 1981, it was demonstrated that the

gonadotropin-releasing hormone Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is a releasing hormone responsible for the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from the anterior pituitary. GnRH is a tropic peptide hormone synthesized and rele ...

(GnRH) agonistic analogs that Schally had developed between the years of 1972 and 1978 inhibited the growth of prostate cancer in rats. Alongside Dr. George Tolis, Schally conducted the first clinical trial of GnRH for patients with advanced

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

in 1982. This method is now the preferred treatment for advanced prostate carcinoma. About 70% of patients with prostate cancer receive an agonist as their primary method of treatment. According to Schally, his treatment causes fewer side effects than radiation and

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

. The previous method of treatment,

orchiectomy Orchiectomy (also named orchidectomy) is a surgery, surgical procedure in which one or both testicles are removed. The surgery can be performed for various reasons: *treatment for testicular cancer *as part of gender-affirming surgery for trans ...

or the administration of estrogens, was based on the research of

Charles Brenton Huggins Charles Brenton Huggins (September 22, 1901 – January 12, 1997) was a Canadian-American surgeon and physiologist known for his work on prostate function, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. Born in Halifax in 1901, Huggins moved to the Unite ...

. In 2004, after the death of his wife due to

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck, ...

, Schally found comfort in continuing his research.

Awards and honors

* Van Meter Award of the

American Thyroid Association The American Thyroid Association (ATA) is a professional organization of over 1700 medical specialists devoted to thyroid biology and to the prevention and treatment of thyroid disease through excellence in research, clinical care, education, and ...

(1969) *

Albert Lasker Award In 1945 Albert Lasker and Mary Woodard Lasker created the Lasker Awards. Every year since then the award has been given to the living person considered to have made the greatest contribution to medical science or who has demonstrated public ser ...

(1975) *

(1977) *Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

(1978)

References

Sources

* Aleksandra Ziółkowska, ''Korzenie są polskie'' (The Roots Are Polish), Warsaw, 1992, . *

Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus ...

, ''The Roots Are Polish'', Toronto, 2004, . *

Nicholas Wade Nicholas Michael Landon Wade (born 17 May 1942) is a British author and journalist. He is the author of numerous books, and has served as staff writer and editor for ''Nature'', ''Science'', and the science section of ''The New York Times''. ...

, '' The Nobel Duel'', Garden City, Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1981.

External links