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ASCO Remembers Karnofsky Award Recipient Dr. Janet D. Rowley

Dec 18, 2013

 Dr. Janet Rowely
 Photo by Jason Smith.
ASCO mourns the loss of cancer genetics pioneer Janet D. Rowley, MD, who passed away from complications of ovarian cancer on December 17, 2013. She was 88. Dr. Rowley was the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago.

“Janet Rowley was a pioneer in what is now called 'translational research,' the direct application of laboratory studies to understanding and treating human disease,” ASCO Chief Medical Officer Richard L. Schilsky, MD, a former colleague of Dr. Rowley’s at the University of Chicago, said in a press release. “She laid the foundation for personalized cancer care and targeted therapy.”

Dr. Rowley was born in New York City in 1925, and moved with her parents to Chicago during her early childhood. She received her medical degree from the University of Chicago in 1948, at age 23, and married fellow medical student Donald Rowley, MD, the day after her graduation. The couple had four sons.

In 1962, following a year at Oxford University and training in the newly developed techniques of chromosome analysis, she began applying chromosome analysis to samples from patients with leukemia. In 1972, using new staining techniques, she made the first observation that the chromosomes of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) had two abnormalities, in which chromosomes 8 and 21 appeared to have made a trade—an exchange now known as a translocation. Later that year she was the first to identify a different translocation in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), in chromosomes 9 and 22. As a result of this translocation, genes that regulated cell growth and division were no longer located in their normal position, resulting in uncontrolled cell growth. She published these observations in 1973. In 1977, Dr. Rowley and colleagues identified a third consistent chromosome translocation, the 15;17 translocation that causes acute promyelocytic leukemia.

These discoveries eventually led to the development of the targeted therapy imatinib for CML and effective treatment with high-dose retinoic acid for acute promyelocytic leukemia, and inspired scientists around the world to search for chromosomal abnormalities that could be linked to particular cancers. By 1990, more than 70 such translocations had been identified.

In addition to her ongoing genetic research and work at the University of Chicago, Dr. Rowley was involved in public policy efforts related to medical research, serving on the National Cancer Advisory Board (1979-1984) and the President's Council on Bioethics (2002-2009). In 2009, she stood next to President Barack Obama when he lifted the federal moratorium on funding for stem cell research, and she returned to the White House later that year to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for her trailblazing discoveries, including the National Medal of Science and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association for Cancer Research. In 1987, ASCO presented Dr. Rowley with the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award and Lecture, the Society’s highest scientific honor.

She is survived by three sons and five grandchildren.
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