Donald Pinkel

Paul Donald Pinkel ( born September 7, 1926 in Buffalo ) is an American pediatrician and pioneer of clinical leukemia research, whose specialty is pediatric hematology and oncology.

For his research to cure childhood cancer, including leukemia, he has won many awards.

1962 Pinkel became the first director of the newly founded St. Jew Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, the medical lead he held until 1973. He has published several books, articles in professional books and journals.

Director of Children's Research Hospital St. Jew

During his time as Director and CEO at St. Jew Children's Research Hospital from 1962 to 1973, the focus of his work was the investigation of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in childhood. Pinkel and his colleagues identified four main obstacles to healing: existing or acquired drug resistance ( drug resistance ), disease relapse ( recurrence ) in the central nervous system (CNS) caused by insufficient CNS - active levels of the chemotherapeutic agents, treatment-related immunosuppression with life-threatening infections, epithelial damage ( inflammation of the mucosa, " mucositis " ), and the so-called therapeutic pessimism of physicians in treating the disease. The latter led to a negative attitude of many pediatricians according to the motto " the children will die from the disease, they must not torment more intensive treatments (chemotherapy, radiotherapy) ." Against the CNS relapses Pinkel and co-workers first systematic prophylactic irradiation of the central nervous system and also the intrathecal administration of cytostatics. For the prevention of recurrence of the Intensitiät chemotherapy was increased to a heretofore unknown level, at the expense of the corresponding side effects.

Pinkel and his colleagues at St. Jew conducted the first systematic treatment studies and developed a treatment program that was aimed at the complete cure of ALL. This " Total Therapy" based on all the then available clinical research and laboratory results and experiences. The therapy included a combination of different cytostatic drugs with CNS prophylaxis ( intrathecal chemotherapy and CNS irradiation) for the prevention of CNS relapse.

Through this therapy, the cure rate of children with ALL of below 10% in the 1960s, rose to about 50 % in the 1970s. With better measures to prevent infections and steady development of medications and therapy, the recovery rate is now children in industrialized countries at 75-85 %.

Awards

Pinkel 1972 Albert Lasker won the Award for Clinical Medical Research in 1986 for his cancer research with the Kettering Prize and in 2003 for his pediatric research with the Pollin Prize ( Pollin Prize for Pediatric Research ).

The American Cancer Society awarded him the Annual Award for Clinical Research and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America, the Return of the Child award. In Germany he 1979 Johann Georg Zimmermann Medal was awarded and the United Kingdom, he was awarded the Leukemia Society Annual Lectureship and the Windermere Lectureship of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health.