Sponsored by the Office for History of Science and Technology (UC Berkeley)
And the History of Health Sciences Program (UCSF)
Gretchen Krueger
Senior Historian, Wells Fargo Company
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Hope and Suffering: Children, Cancer, and the Development of Experimental Medicine
Previously thought to be a dread disease that struck only adults and the elderly, cancer was recognized as a major cause of childhood mortality in the 1930s and 1940s. Yet, it was not until the advent of the first chemotherapeutic agent about a decade later that investigators turned their attention to this rare, but deadly set of diseases -- especially acute leukemia. Acute leukemia became the site of major developments in the laboratory and clinic such as large-scale drug screening programs, the design and implementation of combination drug protocols, and the organization of a cooperative clinical trial structure. I rewrite this story of therapeutic innovation as a nuanced account of cooperation, skepticism, and resistance among a number of actors including young patients, parents and practitioners, focusing on debates over end-of-life care for children with cancer that erupted in the 1970s and 1980s.
4:00PM
Monday, October 1, 2007
279 Dwinelle Hall
UC Berkeley
Office for History of Science and Technology, 543 Stephens Hall #2350
University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2350
tel: (510) 642-4581, e-mail: ohst@berkeley.edu
