Title:

Letter from Kenneth M. Endicott to Mary Lasker

Creator:

National Cancer Institute (U.S.)
Endicott, Kenneth M.

Recipient:

Lasker, Mary

Date:

28 June 1962

Description:

Kenneth Endicott, the first director of the National Cancer Institute's chemotherapy research program, predicted after the rapid growth of the program in the mid-1950s that "the next step--the complete cure--is almost sure to follow." By the 1980s, scientists had found about thirty drugs for treating human cancers, especially in children. Nevertheless, a "cure" proved elusive because too little was known about the basic biology of cancer to make targeted research into therapies fruitful. New discoveries about the genetic origins of cancer during the 1970s came from basic research in cancer virology, an area that had received only modest funding compared to chemotherapy.

Original Repository:

Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Mary Lasker Papers

Location:

Box: 119

Rights:

Public Domain

Genre:

Letters (correspondence)

Format:

Text

Extent:

1 pages

Language:

English

Legacy Source Citation:

Original Repository. Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Mary Lasker Papers. 12417

Legacy ID:

TLBBJP

NLM ID:

101584665X137

Profiles Collection:

The Mary Lasker Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584665X137

Story Section:

Cancer Wars