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Part: 12 Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536 Page 595596597598599600601602603604605606607608610611612613614615616617618619620621622623624625626 of 1143
and Frances Brody and I sent him $10,000 between us for three years. Dr. Huggins's work with estrogen in cancer of the prostate led to the use of testesterone in breast cancer. This study was originally started on a large scale by Dr. Frank Adair and Dr. Herman at Memorial Hospital with some funds from Louis Marx. When Adair needed additional funds he spoke to me about his results, and Albert and I gave him $10,000 with which to establish the fact that testesterone reduces pain and prolongs life for a number of additional months for women with cancer of the breast. Estrogen is also used in women who are pass the menopausal age. Unfortunately, neither of these lead to cures but they do give people some additional length of life, and I'm hoping will lead to better drugs.
Mrs. Lasker, a question from a layman. When a drug of this sort proves to be effective in prolonging life for a certain period of time, do doctors envision this as some sort of a clue to the solution?
Yes, sometimes they do, and in any case, after all, everybody is looking for prolongation of life; nobody knows how long he's going to live nor what things will keep them alive. And if people's lives are prolonged, something better may be found in the meantime to prolong it further. It is a clue that these things are partially successful but need to be supported but other things or by compounds that are slightly different or by entirely different drugs added to these things.
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