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Wilhelm Rontgen announced his discovery of "X-Radiation."
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One of the first Americans to use X-ray radiation in the treatment of cancer was a Chicago chemist and homeopathic physician named Emil Grubbe. Grubbe performed one of the first radiation therapy treatments on a patient named Rose Lee that was suffering from the recurrence of inoperable breast cancer. He administered X-rays for about an hour on Rose and repeated the therapy several more times for the next seventeen days.
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Memorial Hospital (New York, NY) obtained two x-ray machines to be used for treating cancer. William Coley was a surgeon and supported the technique. He helped acquire the x-ray machines.
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James Douglas was scientist and mining engineer. His daughter died of breast cancer, and he began to give very large financial donations to Memorial Hospital. He donated with the stipulation that the hospital must focus solely on cancer and that radiation be used for the treatment.
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The pioneer of medical physics, Gioacchino Failla was hired as the first Director of the Radium Department at Memorial Hospital. Dr. Failla obtained his PhD with Marie Curie in Paris and eventually became a pioneer in the field. He pioneered several new techniques in both external- and internal-beam radiation.
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James Douglas donated 3.75 grams of radium to Memorial Hospital to be used for radiation therapy. The radium was stored in a vault in the hospital basement, and the emanations of the radon gas were collected and used in treatment.
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Medical physicist, Gioacchino Failla developed the first external-beam radium therapy device that was known as a "radium element pack" or a "radium bomb." It was used to treat cancers located in the brain, chest, and abdomen.
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Through various donations, Memorial Hospital acquires nine grams of radium -- more than anywhere else in the world -- earning the nickname "Radium Hospital."
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Arthur C. Heublein and Gioacchino Failla installed a total body irradiation unit to treat lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease at Memorial Hospital. Patients lived in the unit for roughly two to three weeks and were administered low-level radiation. This procedure destroyed cancer cells in bone marrow and paved the way for bone marrow transplants, which are still in use today!
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Memorial Hospital acquired a one-million-volt x-ray machine. This machine was the first one of its size installed in the United States! The machine delivered focused beams of radiation to tumors located deep inside a person's body.
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Memorial Hospital acquired a 24-million-volt electron machine, dubbed the betatron. The betatron delivered high-energy electrons directly and precisely to the site of a tumor. It was used at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Center (MSK) for the next twenty-five years to treat head and neck, breast, cervical, and other cancers.
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Memorial Hospital oncologist, Ulrich Henschke developed a system that helped decrease radiation exposure to doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers. The system administered internal radiation by sending a radioactive pellet down a catheter and could be removed after it was used. This technique was called "after loading."
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MSK radiation oncologists, Brasil Hilaris and Ulrich Henschke began using radioactive iodine seeds to treat prostate cancer. This approach eventually became standard practice because the seeds were much safer than other sources of radiation treatment.
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A cyclotron, nicknamed "Betsy," was installed at the Sloan-Kettering Institute and began producing radioactive isotopes for treatment and research. These isotopes were useful for detecting and treating cancer in the body.
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The Therac-20, a 20-million-electron-volt linera accelerator, was acquired at MSK. It could deliver high-energy electrons or x-rays to a patient's tumor in a extremely focused manner. Future iterations became popularly known by their trade names, such as CyberKnife and TrueBeam.
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As Memorial Sloan-Kettering Physician-in-Chief, Samuel Hellman, pioneered the use of external-beam radiation in combination with lumpectomy for women with early-stage breast cancer. This technique lessened the need for more-extensive surgeries.
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MSK radiation oncologists and medical physicists pioneer real-time computer-aided visualization and dose calculations to improve brachytherapy for prostate cancer.
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MSK radiation oncologist Michael Zelefsky and colleagues published results of a large study showing that high-dose intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is safer and more effective than previous methods such as three-dimensional radiation therapy.
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MSK radiation oncologist Kenneth Rosenzweig and colleagues reported results of three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3-DCRT) for non-small cell lung cancer showing that it is safe and effective
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Josh Yamada, MSK radiation oncologist, published results on high-dose single-fraction intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for spine metastases. This approach to spinal radiotherapy was radical and new and has dramatically changed how the disease is treated today!
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MSK radiation oncologists developed a stereotactic radiosurgery technique to allow single-day, high-dose treatment of metastatic brain tumors. To compare how big this break-through was, conventional therapies can take up to six weeks!
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The unique physical properties of protons allow them to deliver the dose of radiation at a specific depth in the body. This technique lowers the damage to normal tissues. This technology is currently used most often for head and neck tumors in pediatric cancers.
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Alice Ho, a MSK radiation oncologist developed a new radiation treatment plan with the Radiation Oncology Chair, Simon Powell. The treatment plan spreads the radiation dose over a large number of beams and makes it possible to cover the area more thoroughly without endangering the patient.
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Abraham Wu, Andreas Rimner, and colleagues published results from a phase II clinical trial showing that hemithoracic intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for mesothelioma is safe and effective. This approach represents a new lung-sparing treatment option for patients.
