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 (''� ...

who played a prominent role in the introduction of

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 ...

for

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 ...

. 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 Rockville, Maryland for boys in ninth through twelfth grade. It has a 93-acre (380,000 square meters) campus. It is the only Jesuit boarding s ...

(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, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

(class of 1936), and

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 ...

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

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 ...

in the treatment of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

. The unit eventually discovered

chloroquine Chloroquine is an antiparasitic medication that treats malaria. It works by increasing the levels of heme in the blood, a substance toxic to the malarial parasite. This kills the parasite and stops the infection from spreading. Certain types ...

. In 1946 he commenced work at

Johns Hopkins University Medical School The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1893 following the construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the ...

, and was appointed assistant professor of medicine and director of research at

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

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

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

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 subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

s. He is credited with the introduction of the

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

-containing compounds (e.g.

cisplatin Cisplatin is a chemical compound with chemical formula, formula ''cis''-. It is a coordination complex of platinum that is used as a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of cancers. These include testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, c ...

). 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 university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

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 College of the Holy Cross alumni

Life and work

See also

Biography

Books

Review papers

External links