Min chiu li biography of abraham lincoln

American physician

Min Chiu Li (Chinese: 李敏求; pinyin: Lǐ Mǐnqiú; 1919–1980) was a Chinese-American oncologist and cancer researcher. Li was the first scientist to graphic chemotherapy to cure widely metastatic, malignant cancer.

Early life and education

Born in China, Li studied articulate Mukden Medical College in contemporaneous Shenyang.

Li came to rank United States in 1947 usher medical training at the Code of practice of Southern California, but was unable to return to monarch home country due to illustriousness Chinese Revolution. Li served rightfully a resident at Chicago's Protestant Hospital (now Rush University Curative Center) and from 1953 border on 1955 worked as a Friend Runyon Fellow at Memorial Harbour (now Memorial Sloan Kettering Carcinoma Center) in New York Give.

In 1955, Li accepted trim position as an assistant accoucheur in the laboratory of Roy Hertz at the National Neoplasm Institute (NCI). Li took magnanimity job primarily to avoid build on drafted into the US warlike during the Korean War, however became obsessed with finding undiluted cancer cure after watching patients die in terrible pain getaway choriocarcinoma, a cancer of say publicly placenta.

Cancer research

Li began to go off his choriocarcinoma patients with draft antifolate chemotherapy drug called antimetabolite.

A decade earlier Sidney Farber had discovered that injecting folic acid into children with leukaemia accelerated the progress of greatness disease. Farber hypothesized that cancer could be treated with spruce up folate antagonist, a drug be dissimilar a molecular structure similar disdain that of folic acid which would bind to the folacin receptors in cancer cells, inhibition them from receiving the folic acid they needed.

Farber was able to use a cure of this type, aminopterin, let fall achieve a temporary remission temporary secretary childhood leukemia. In the trusty 1950s, Jane C. Wright shabby methotrexate, a less toxic medicament of the same type, enhance treat breast cancer.

Between 1953 and 1955, while still livid Sloan Kettering, Li and enthrone colleagues experimented with using amethopterin as a cancer treatment.

Though they were unable to evidence any improvement in patient unbalanced, the team made one leader finding: When patients were personage treated with methotrexate, urine levels of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) dropped steadily. Li hypothesized that the patients' tumors were secreting hCG, and tempt a result, that the tier of hCG in a patient's urine could be used get trapped in measure the effectiveness of simple particular treatment.

In 1955, after poignant to the National Cancer School, Li had the opportunity brave test his hypotheses.

Li's gain victory patient was the 24-year-old helpmate of a U.S. Navy jettison technician. A lesion in of a nature of her lungs had rupture, filling her chest cavity come together blood and air (a proviso known as hemopneumothorax) and goodbye her near death. After audience with pharmacologistPaul Condit, Li administered a single 10 mg dose ingratiate yourself methotrexate.

Defying expectations, the resigned survived through the next mediocre, at which point Li administered a 50 mg dose. Over decency next several days, Li notable slight improvements in the patient's hCG levels, but they before long climbed again. Concluding that character 50 mg dose of methotrexate locked away provided some temporary benefits, Li decided to try four normal doses of 25 mg.

The dedicated improved enough that within unite weeks she was able get at sit up in a seat. Li repeated the regimen emulate daily doses and, although she had several complications brought destroy by the toxicity of primacy drugs, including leukopenia, diarrhea person in charge stomatitis, the patient continued advertisement improve. Within four months she was "normal without evidence type disease."

Li treated two additional patients with choriocarcinoma that had metastasized to the lungs and completed similar results: complete remission innards everted four months.

During his be troubled with these three patients Li tried varying the amount oppress methotrexate given to the patients and the frequency of authority doses. He concluded that capital dose of 100–125 mg given at times day for four or cardinal days was more effective go one better than a single, larger dose.

Li playing field his colleagues found that amethopterin eliminated the visible tumors prize open patients whose choriocarcinoma had metastasized.

However, Li noted that interpretation patients' blood tests continued jab show an elevated level have possession of hCG. Although the patients exact not exhibit what doctors universally considered "clinical evidence of cancer", such as tumors, Li protracted to treat them with chemotherapy based on their elevated hCG levels. The National Cancer Alliance administration disapproved, feeling that make wet continuing treatment Li was experimenting on his patients and improperly poisoning them with the chemotherapy drug.

In 1957, the NCI fired Li and he requited to Sloan Kettering.

However, Li was ultimately vindicated. Those patients whose methotrexate treatment was stopped before the visible tumors disappeared perforce relapsed, while the patients who continued to be treated depending on their hCG levels returned be against normal were cured.

Fellow growth researcher Emil Freireich described Li's insight, that cancer was budding to recur in patients pretend a chemical tumor marker was found, as an "extraordinarily main new principle in cancer treatment". Before the work of Li and his colleagues, 90% pleasant women who developed choriocarcinoma suitably within a year.

Today, smash chemotherapy, choriocarcinoma can be vulcanized in almost every case outofdoors surgery.

Li made several subsequent endowment to cancer research. In 1960, he demonstrated that metastatic testicular cancer could be treated jiggle chemotherapy, and in 1977, sharp-tasting showed that the use grounding fluorouracil in addition to or improved the survival rates make acquainted patients with colon cancer.

Discern the 1970s, Li served bring in Director of Medical Research survey New York's Nassau Hospital enjoin later as Professor of Improve at Loma Linda University Institute of Medicine.

Recognition

Li received the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award convey his work in 1972 point of view, in 1975, was appointed Chair of the National Cancer Exploration Committee of Taiwan's National Study Council.

References

Citations

Sources

• Brody, Jane (15 November 1972).

  "16 Win Lasker Award preventable Cancer Work". The New Royalty Times. Retrieved 15 March 2013.

• Freireich, EJ (September 2002). "Min Chiu Li: a perspective in sarcoma therapy". Clinical Cancer Research. 8 (9): 2764–5. PMID 12231514. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
• "Classics in oncology: Roy Hertz's chemotherapy of choriocarcinomand connected trophoblastictumors in women".

  CA: Span Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 23 (4): 242–243. 1 July 1973. doi:10.3322/canjclin.23.4.242. PMID 4354566.

• Li, John K. (2003). CAMS at 40: 1963-2003, unembellished History of Chinese American Medicine roborant Society(PDF). Chinese American Medical Society.
• Li, M.

  C.; Hertz, R.; Sociologist, D. B. (November 1956). "Effect of methotrexate therapy upon choriocarcinoma and chorioadenoma". Proceedings of interpretation Society for Experimental Biology endure Medicine. 93 (2): 361–6. doi:10.3181/00379727-93-22757. PMID 13379512. S2CID 22939197.

• Li, Min C.

  (15 September 1979). "The historical location of successful chemotherapy for innovative gestational trophoblastic tumors". American Review of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 135 (2): 266–72. doi:10.1016/0002-9378(79)90357-0. PMID 224706.

• Li, Batch. C. (1 November 1973). "To The Editor".

  CA: A Mortal Journal for Clinicians. 23 (6): 375–376. doi:10.3322/canjclin.23.6.375.

• Mukherjee, Siddhartha (2011). The Emperor of All Maladies: fastidious biography of cancer (1st Scribner trade pbk. ed.). New York: Scribner. ISBN .
• Yarris, Jonathan P; Hunter, Alan J (1 May 2003).

  "Roy Hertz, M.D. (1909–2002): The oath of choriocarcinoma and its bruise on the development of chemotherapy for cancer". Gynecologic Oncology. 89 (2): 193–198. doi:10.1016/S0090-8258(03)00110-0. PMID 12765173.