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Carlos Cordon-Cardo (born February 25, 1957) is a Spanish-born American physician and scientist known for his research in
experimental pathology Experimental pathology, also known as investigative pathology, is the scientific study of disease processes through the microscopic or molecular examination of organs, tissues, cells, or body fluids from diseased organisms. It is closely related ...
and
molecular oncology Molecular oncology is an interdisciplinary medical specialty at the interface of medicinal chemistry and oncology that refers to the investigation of the chemistry of cancer and tumors at the molecule, molecular scale. Also the development and app ...
. He holds the "Irene Heinz Given and John LaPorte Given" Chair in Pathology at
Mount Sinai School of Medicine The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City, New York, United States. The school is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sina ...
.


Life and career

Cordon-Cardo was born in
Calella Calella () is a municipality located in the Maresme region of Spain, located 50 km from Barcelona, 50 km from Girona, and 6 km from the Montnegre-Corredor Natural Park. It has a Mediterranean climate, and is known for its beaches, ...
, a seaside town in the
Province of Barcelona Barcelona (; ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona (; Spanish: ; ; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. , the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, lif ...
medical school in 1975 and received his MD in 1980. With the encouragement of his mentor at the university and the assistance of a fellowship from the Spanish Government, he then went to
Cornell University Medical College Weill Cornell Medicine (; officially Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University), originally Cornell University Medical College, is the medical school of Cornell University, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Ne ...
for graduate work in pathology, cell biology and genetics.Brody, Jane E. (13 April 1999)
"Scientists at Work: Carlos Cordon-Cardo, Cancer Trailblazer Follows the Genetic Fingerprints"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Retrieved 27 April 2014. Also reprinted in Chang, Laura (ed.) (2000). ''Scientists at Work: Profiles of Today's Groundbreaking Scientists from Science Times'', pp. 218–224. McGraw Hill Books. .
''
La Vanguardia ' (; , ) is a Spanish daily newspaper founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan. It has its headquarters in Barcelona and is Catalonia's leading newspaper. Despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia, ...
'' (16 June 2010)
"Carles Cordón: 'Hemos descubierto una célula que nos permitirá atacar el inicio del cáncer'"
Retrieved 27 April 2014 .
After earning his PhD from Cornell in 1985 with his dissertation ''Immunoanatomic Dissection of the Normal Human Adult Kidney and Urinary Tract'', Cordon-Cardo became a research fellow in immunopathology at the
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute– designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Its main campus is ...
. He worked there for over 20 years, creating the center's division of
molecular pathology Molecular pathology is an emerging discipline within pathology which is focused in the study and diagnosis of disease through the examination of molecules within organs, tissues or bodily fluids. Molecular pathology shares some aspects of practice ...
in 1995 and serving as its first director. In 2006, he joined the faculty of
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irvin ...
as Chernow Professor of Clinical Urological Sciences and Professor of
Clinical Pathology Clinical pathology is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the laboratory analysis of bodily fluids, such as blood, urine, and tissue homogenates or extracts using the tools of chemistry, microbiology, ...
and Cell Biology in the Institute for Cancer Genetics. He remained at Columbia until 2011 when he moved to Mount Sinai School of Medicine to become the "Irene Heinz Given and John LaPorte Given" Professor of Pathology. Cordon-Cardo married Alicia Bouzan in 1990. A
breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
survivor and active in a number of cancer charities, Alicia Bouzan-Cordon died in 2009 from a rare lung disease. The couple had two children. Cordon-Cardo is himself a survivor of
colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...
to which he had a genetic predisposition. In an effort to overcome the stigma of cancer in his native Spain he wrote an article about his experiences for the Sunday magazine of the Spanish newspaper ''
La Vanguardia ' (; , ) is a Spanish daily newspaper founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan. It has its headquarters in Barcelona and is Catalonia's leading newspaper. Despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia, ...
'' in 2006. In the article, for which he won an award from the Spanish Society of Oncology, he highlighted the resources available for cancer patients and "described his feelings of fear after the diagnosis, overcoming the dread, and the support from his wife, doctors, nurses, and friends" during his treatment in 2002–2003.Eisner, Robin (2008)
"Carlos Cordon-Cardo: A Different View of Cancer"
. ''P & S'', Vol. 28, No. 2, Spring/Summer 2008, pp. 15-19. (Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons). Retrieved 27 April 2014.
In 2006 Cordon-Cardo was awarded the title of
Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and in 2012 received the Cornell Medical College Distinguished Alumni Award "in recognition of distinguished, lifelong contributions to biomedical research and education."


Scientific contributions

Considered one of the pioneers in oncologic molecular pathology and the mechanisms of tumor suppression, Cordon-Cardo has authored or co-authored over 500 academic papers and numerous book chapters. He is on the
Thomson ISI The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) was an academic publishing service, founded by Eugene Garfield in Philadelphia in 1956. ISI offered scientometric and bibliographic database services. Its specialty was citation indexing and analysis, ...
list of the top 250 researchers in Clinical Medicine and in 2013 was named to the list compiled by
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
and SciTech Strategies of the world's 400 most influential bio-medical scientists. According to Dean F. Bajorin of the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center:
He was the first investigator to identify genetically distinct pathways for superficial and muscle-invasive bladder cancers. The underpinnings for these pathways were based on over a decade of studies elucidating genetic perturbations seen in low and high-grade tumors. These pathways now serve as a template for modern studies.
American Society of Clinical Oncology The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is a professional organization representing physicians of all oncology sub-specialties who care for people with cancer. Founded in 1964 by Fred Ansfield, Harry Bisel, Herman Freckman, Arnoldus G ...

"Dr. Cordon-Cardo to Highlight Stem Cell Research in GU Tumors during Keynote Address"
. 2014 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
Several findings from Cordon-Cardo's research at Sloan Kettering have had specific implications for the treatment of cancer and
experimental cancer treatment Experimental cancer treatments are mainstream medical therapies intended to treat cancer by improving on, supplementing or replacing conventional methods (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy). However, researchers are still tr ...
and have led to more personalized therapies, particularly for cancers of the
genitourinary system The genitourinary system, or urogenital system, are the sex organs of the reproductive system and the organs of the urinary system. These are grouped together because of their proximity to each other, their common embryological origin and the u ...
. While it had been previously thought that
P-glycoprotein P-glycoprotein 1 (permeability glycoprotein, abbreviated as P-gp or Pgp) also known as multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1) or ATP-binding cassette sub-family B member 1 (ABCB1) or cluster of differentiation 243 (CD243) is an important protein ...
was unique to cancer cells, Cordon-Cardo showed in 1989 that it is also present in normal cells and is exploited by cancer cells to survive
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 ...
. In 1990, he was among the first to show that the mutated gene ( RB) which causes the childhood cancer
retinoblastoma Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. It is the most common primary malignant intraocular cancer in children, and 80% of retinoblastoma cas ...
is also present in some adults with
sarcoma A sarcoma is a rare type of cancer that arises from cells of mesenchymal origin. Originating from mesenchymal cells means that sarcomas are cancers of connective tissues such as bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, or vascular tissues. Sarcom ...
s but no history of retinoblastoma. He also found that the presence of the mutated gene in adult cancers was associated with a poor clinical outcome. His 1994 research in collaboration with
Arnold J. Levine Arnold Jay Levine (born 1939) is an American molecular biologist. He was awarded the 1998 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry and was the first recipient of the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research in ...
was one of the first examples of how mutations in the gene which regulates the tumor suppressor
p53 p53, also known as tumor protein p53, cellular tumor antigen p53 (UniProt name), or transformation-related protein 53 (TRP53) is a regulatory transcription factor protein that is often mutated in human cancers. The p53 proteins (originally thou ...
can lead to cancer by inactivating all the normal p53, thus allowing cancer cells to grow uncontrollably. A later study by Cordon-Cardo in 1997 found that when mutated p53 and RB are both present in a tumor, it becomes very aggressive and resistant to most treatments.


Selected publications

Among Cordon-Cardo's most frequently cited scientific papers are: * Cordon-Cardo, O'Brien, Casals, et al. "Multidrug-resistance gene (P-glycoprotein) is expressed by endothelial cells at blood-brain barrier sites". ''
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Scie ...
'', Vol. 86, No. 2, pp. 695–698 (1 January 1989) * Cordon-Cardo, O'Brien, Boccia et al. "Expression of the multidrug resistance gene product (P-glycoprotein) in human normal and tumor tissues". ''
Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry The ''Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of cell biology established in 1953. It covers research in the structure and function of cells, tissues, and organs as well as components of development, dif ...
'', Vol. 38, No. 9, pp. 1277–1287 (September 1990) * Cordon-Cardo. "Mutations of cell cycle regulators. Biological and clinical implications for human neoplasia". '' American Journal of Pathology'', Vol. 147, No. 3, pp. 545–560 (September 1995) * Cristofano, Pesce, Cordon-Cardo, Pandolfi. "Pten is essential for embryonic development and tumour suppression". ''
Nature Genetics ''Nature Genetics'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. It was established in 1992. It covers research in genetics. The chief editor is Tiago Faial. The journal encompasses genetic and functional genomic studies ...
'', Vol. 19, pp. 348–355 (1998) * Kang, Siegel, Shu, Drobnjak, Kakonen, Cordón-Cardo, el al. "A multigenic program mediating breast cancer metastasis to bone". ''
Cancer Cell Cancer cells are cells that divide continually, forming solid tumors or flooding the blood or lymph with abnormal cells. Cell division is a normal process used by the body for growth and repair. A parent cell divides to form two daughter cells, an ...
'', Vol. 3, Issue 6, pp. 537–549 (June 2003) * He, Thomson, Hemann, Hernando-Monge, Mu, Goodson, Powers, Cordon-Cardo, et al. "A
microRNA Micro ribonucleic acid (microRNA, miRNA, μRNA) are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules containing 21–23 nucleotides. Found in plants, animals, and even some viruses, miRNAs are involved in RNA silencing and post-transcr ...
polycistron as a potential human oncogene". ''
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'', Vol. 435, pp. 828–833 (9 June 2005) His single-authored book chapters include: * Cordon-Cardo. "Monoclonal antibodies in the diagnosis of solid tumors: Studies on renal carcinomas, transitional cell carcinomas and melanoma, " in J. Russo (ed.) (1985). ''Immunocytochemistry in Tumor Diagnosis''. Marcel Dekker Inc. * Cordon-Cardo. "Immunohistochemical analysis of P-glycoprotein expression in human normal and tumor tissues," in I. Roninson (ed.) (1991). ''Molecular and Cellular Biology of Multidrug Resistance in Tumor Cells'' Plenum Publishing Corporation. * Cordon-Cardo. "Molecular Biology of Sarcomas," in VT DeVita, S Hellman, SA Rosenberg (eds.) (1997). ''Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology'', 5th edition. J.B. Lippincott Company. * Cordon-Cardo. "Molecular Alterations in Bladder Cancer" in J Ponten (ed.) (1998). ''Precancer: Biology, Importance and Possible Prevention'' (Cancer Surveys Vol. 32). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1998. 2017 retraction. http://mcb.asm.org/content/37/18/e00365-17.short


References


External links


Faculty biography
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City, New York, United States. The school is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sina ...

Publications by Carlos Cordon-Cardo
on
PubMed PubMed is an openly accessible, free database which includes primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institute ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordon-Cardo, Carlos American medical researchers American oncologists Cancer researchers Biologists from Catalonia Physicians from Catalonia Columbia Medical School faculty Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai faculty Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni Weill Cornell Medical College alumni People from Calella 1957 births Living people