Seizing the moment:

Sixty years of Dana-Farber's scientific discoveries
By Robert Levy

The story of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which marks its 60th anniversary this year, is the story of cancer's changing role in the last half of the 20th and early 21st centuries. From a condition that was almost invariably fatal in 1947 to one that is often managed or cured, cancer is in many ways a different disease than it was a generation ago – less a mysterious menace, more a symbol of the steady ascendance of science and compassion over illness.

Dana-Farber's history overlaps this period of progress almost precisely. The Institute was created at the same time as, and as a result of, the discovery that specially selected drugs could cause cancer to reverse course, however briefly, in children. In virtually every advance that followed – including the discovery of new chemotherapeutic agents, improvements in supportive care, the use of drug combinations, attention to the emotional, nutritional, and social needs of patients, and development of malignant cell-seeking "smart" drugs – Dana-Farber has been a lead actor in the cancer drama.

As the prospect for new therapies has brightened, the Institute's mission has broadened. Beginning as a pediatric-only organization in partnership with Children's Hospital Boston, DFCI began treating patients of all ages in the early 1970s. From a relatively narrow research focus in the early years, Institute scientists came to explore the immune system, the genetics and genomics of tumor cells, the causes of cancer spread and drug resistance, and, more recently, the interactions of cell proteins and the signals sent between normal and cancerous cells. Along the way, it has become clear that cancer comprises hundreds of different diseases, each with a unique genetic identity.

For all the high-tech laboratory equipment and computer technology enlisted in the fight against cancer during the past 60 years, the biggest change is visible in hospital clinics around the country and the world. A visitor to a major hospital in the 1960s would find remarkably few cancer patients there. Aside from those undergoing surgery or receiving radiation therapy, there would likely be only a handful of such patients. There was little that medicine could do to help them; the number of cancer drugs was minimal, and they were only occasionally beneficial.

Compare that with today, when millions of people worldwide receive cancer treatment precisely because such treatment can be highly effective. Still, more progress is needed so more lives can be saved.

Dana-Farber's contribution to this environment is considerable, but difficult to isolate amid the web of research involving multiple scientists at multiple organizations. The Institute and its clinical and scientific staff can claim credit for countless advances that have become the standard for cancer research and care – too many to fully describe here. To give a flavor of the impact and level of innovation that have historically characterized Dana-Farber, this issue of Paths of Progress highlights one key advance from each decade of the Institute's history.