Sir Richard Doll: A life's research

[Guest guest]

[Here's some good news. It shows how effective prevention can be at

reducing cancer incidence. Note the common themes; the difficulty of

establishing a 'smoking gun', the reluctance by others to accept the

science. After the smoking/cancer links Sir Richard Doll went on to find

other lifestyle causes of cancers.]

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3826939.stm

 

Sir Richard Doll is one of the UK's most respected doctors.

 

BBC News Online profiles the man who first confirmed the link between

smoking and lung cancer.

Last Updated: Tuesday, 22 June, 2004, 09:21 GMT 10:21 UK

 

 

Fifty years ago, doctors at the UK's Medical Research Council published a

scientific paper that was truly ground-breaking.

 

They revealed that smoking can cause lung cancer. It was the first time the

link had been confirmed.

 

The findings were to change the minds and lives of millions of people

around the world.

 

In 1954, 80% of British adults smoked. Today, that figure is 26%.

 

Sir Richard Doll was one of the men behind that pioneering study.

 

He was 41 at the time and had been working in the MRC's Statistical

Research Unit since the end of World War II.

 

Some scientists had suggested that rising rates of lung cancer may be due

to smoking. But tests on animals appeared to rule out a link.

 

Many researchers, including Sir Richard, started to investigate other

potential suspects.

 

" I personally thought it was tarring of the roads. We knew that there were

carcinogens in tar. "

 

Sir Richard and his colleagues interviewed 700 lung cancer patients to try

to identify a possible link.

 

" We asked them every question we could think of, " he says.

 

" It wasn't long before it became clear that cigarette smoking may be to

blame. I gave up smoking two-thirds of the way through that study. "

 

The findings were published in 1951. However, it wasn't until the 1954

paper was published that people started to take notice.

 

" Nobody believed us, " says Sir Richard. " They thought there may be other

explanations. "

 

 

Sir Richard Doll's CV

1912: Born in Hampton, England, on 28 October

1937: Graduated from St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in London

1939-45: Served in the Royal Army Medical Corps

1946: Started work at the Medical Research Council

1951: Co-authored a paper suggesting smoking causes lung cancer

1954: Co-authored a paper confirming the link between smoking and lung cancer

1956: Awarded an OBE

1961: Appointed director of the MRC Statistical Research Unit

1969: Appointed Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University

1970-71: Served as vice-president of the Royal Society

1971: Received a knighthood

1996: Made a Companion of Honour for services of national importance

 

 

Historic study

 

The MRC researchers continued with their work. This time they enrolled

every doctor in the UK in their study.

 

In 1951, they asked 40,000 doctors if they smoked. Over the course of the

next three years, they compared those answers with information about

doctors who went on to develop lung cancer. They found a direct link.

 

The findings prompted the then UK health minister Iain Macleod to call a

news conference.

 

Chain-smoking throughout, he said: " It must be regarded as established that

there is a relationship between smoking and cancer of the lung. "

 

The study has provided the foundation for all other research into the

impact of smoking cigarettes on health.

 

It has arguably helped to save millions of lives.

 

 

1962: UN award for cancer research

1974: New York Academy of Science Presidential Award

1981: Bruce Medal, American College of Physicians

1983: Gold Medal, British Medical Association

1986: Royal Medal from the Royal Society

2000: Gold Medal from the European Cancer Society

2002: Norway's King Olaf V award for outstanding work on cancer

 

 

Sir Richard's work has been recognised throughout the world.

 

He has received honorary degrees from 13 universities.

 

He has won countless awards, including the United Nations Award for Cancer

Research in 1962 and the gold medal of the European Cancer Society in 2000.

 

His achievements have been recognised by the Queen. He was knighted in 1971

and made a Companion of Honour in 1996 for services of national importance.

 

But among his peers, Sir Richard is known for much more than just his 1954

paper.

 

Over the course of the past five decades, he has published hundreds of

papers on topics as varied as oral contraception, peptic ulcers and

electrical power lines.

 

He has shown that all radiation is potentially harmful, which wasn't always

thought to be the case, and that aspirin can protect against heart disease.

 

He has uncovered evidence to suggest that drinking alcohol increases the

risk of breast cancer and that electrical power lines do not cause cancer.

 

Hitting the headlines

 

His findings have sometimes sparked controversy. So too has the man.

 

In 2001, he riled the anti-smoking lobby after appearing to downplay the

risks from second-hand smoke.

 

In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, he said: " The effects

of other people smoking in my presence is so small it doesn't worry me. "

 

In February 2004, he hit the headlines after saying he would be willing to

go to prison because of new rules on medical research.

 

At 91, Sir Richard remains as busy and as sharp as ever.

 

In March, he took part in the topping-out ceremony for the new Richard Doll

Building at Oxford University.

 

Fittingly, the building will house some of the country's top cancer

researchers.

 

This week, he published further findings from the study he started in 1951.

 

Some 67 years after graduating from medical school, he is only now

considering retirement.

 

" Maybe next year, " he says.