Dr. Sidney Farber - The Father of Modern Chemotherapy

Born: September 30, 1903, Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.
Died: March 30, 1973, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Sidney Farber was a visionary physician and researcher whose breakthroughs in childhood leukemia treatment changed medicine and saved countless lives.

Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1903, Farber was the third of 14 children in his family. Bright and hardworking, he studied in Germany before transferring to Harvard Medical School, where he graduated in 1927. In 1929, he became the first full-time pathologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. At first, Farber’s work was in the basement of the hospital, studying tissues and performing autopsies. But what troubled him most was the number of young children dying from leukemia.

At that time, leukemia was a death sentence. From the moment it was first described in 1845, the disease almost always killed children within weeks. Doctors could do very little to help. But Farber refused to accept this. He studied research showing that certain blood diseases caused by immature bone marrow cells could be treated with vitamins like B12 or folic acid. Farber had an idea: if folic acid encouraged the growth of leukemia cells, maybe a drug that blocked it could stop the disease.

In 1947, he found his chance. A company called Lederle was testing a new drug called aminopterin, which blocked folic acid. Farber gave the drug to 16 children with acute leukemia. Ten of them went into temporary remission, the first time in history that chemotherapy had brought relief from leukemia. Farber published his results in 1948, but many scientists doubted him. They believed no drug could treat “liquid tumors” like leukemia. Still, parents and pediatricians across the country began writing to Farber, begging for help. He answered every letter.

This breakthrough was the beginning of modern chemotherapy. It gave hope to families who once had none and showed that cancer could, in fact, be treated. Farber also believed that research needed strong public support.

In 1948, he partnered with the Variety Club of New England, a charity group, to raise money for children’s cancer research. They introduced the nation to one of his patients, a boy nicknamed “Jimmy,” on the radio show Truth or Consequences. Listeners donated nearly a quarter of a million dollars that night. The campaign became known as the Jimmy Fund, which still raises money for cancer research today. With these funds, Farber opened the Jimmy Fund Building in 1952 and later expanded it into what became the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute, today known as the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Farber was more than a scientist. He was an innovator in patient care. At a time when doctors worked in isolation, Farber created the idea of “total care.” He believed cancer treatment should bring together doctors, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, and counselors to support both patients and families. He even convinced Boston Children’s Hospital to give him an entire floor to put this plan into action, creating a model now used worldwide.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Farber continued his research. He helped show that the drug actinomycin D, when combined with radiation, could treat Wilms’ tumor, a childhood kidney cancer. At the same time, he became a powerful voice in Washington, D.C. With his dramatic testimony before Congress, Farber argued that conquering cancer required national will and funding. Thanks to his efforts, the budget of the National Cancer Institute grew more than threefold in just a decade.

Farber was also known for his presence. Tall, dignified, and always well dressed, he carried himself with authority but also kindness. He knew every staff member by name, joked with children, and treated families with compassion.

Dr. Sidney Farber died in 1973 at the age of 69, but his impact lives on. He is remembered as the “Father of Modern Chemotherapy,” the man who proved that cancer could be fought with science, and the force behind the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His vision, that research, funding, and determination could turn cancer from a death sentence into a treatable disease, changed medicine forever.

References:
“History and Milestones.” Dana, www.danafarberbostonchildrens.org/why-choose-us/history-and-milestones.
Kumar Upadhyay, Amitabh, et al. “Dr. Sidney Farber (1903-1973): Founder of Pediatric Pathology and the Father of Modern Chemotherapy.” Cureus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 31 Aug. 2024, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11440578/.
Sidney Farber (1903-1973) - The Journal of Pediatrics, www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(96)70455-9/fulltext.
“Sidney Farber - the Father of Modern Chemotherapy.” Blood Cancer UK, bloodcancer.org.uk/news/sidney-farber-the-father-of-modern-chemotherapy.

Keywords:
Science, Innovation, Courage, Perseverance, Responsibility, Repair the World – Tikkun Olam, Make a Difference, Stand Up for Your Beliefs, STEAM