Charles B. HugginsDied 12 Jan 1997 at age 95 (born 22 Sep 1901).Charles Brenton Huggins was a Canadian-born American surgeon and urologist whose investigations demonstrated the relationship between hormones and certain types of cancer. In 1939, Huggins made a very simple inference that led to the development of new forms of cancer therapy. Noting that the prostate gland was under the control of androgens (male sex hormones) he concluded that cancer of the prostate might be treated by preventing the production of androgens. In 1941, he began to inject with female sex hormones to neutralize the effect of androgens produced by the testicles. For his discoveries Huggins received (with Peyton Rous) the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1966. |