Claudius Regaud (born 30 January 1870 in

Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

; died 29 December 1940 in

Couzon-au-Mont-d'Or Couzon-au-Mont-d'Or (; ) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas ...

) was a French medical doctor and biologist, one of the pioneers in

radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle ...

at the Curie Institute.

Scientific work

In 1906, Regaud discovered that one of the effects of

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

treatment is sterility. He deduced that X-rays could also be used against rapidly growing cells other than gametes and, thus, against

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

ous

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

s. He proceeded to conduct the first experiments in this area. In 1912, at the Curie Institute, he was given responsibility for the Pasteur Laboratory, with the mission to study the biological and medical effects of

radioactivity Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...

. The Curie laboratory, in contrast, dealt with research in the fields of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

. In addition, he started a program to fight

neoplasia A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

and conducted research to determine the optimal duration and dosage for radiation therapy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Regaud, Claudius French radiologists Radiation health effects researchers 1870 births 1940 deaths Physicians from Lyon