The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Part 42

Chapter 3: Diagnosis and Treatment

For information on the development of the Pap smear, see G. N. Papanicolaou and H. F. Traut, "Diagnostic Value of v.a.g.i.n.al Smears in Carcinoma of Uterus," American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 42 (1941), and "Diagnosis of Uterine Cancer by the v.a.g.i.n.al Smear," by George Papanicolaou and H. Traut (1943).

Richard TeLinde's research on carcinoma in situ and invasive carcinoma, and his concern about unnecessary hysterectomies, is doc.u.mented in many papers, including "Hysterectomy: Present-Day Indications," JMSMS (July 1949); G. A. Gavin, H. W. Jones, and R. W TeLinde, "Clinical Relationship of Carcinoma in Situ and Invasive Carcinoma of the Cervix," Journal of the American Medical a.s.sociation 149, no. 8 (June 2, 1952); R. W TeLinde, H. W. Jones and G. A. Gavin, "What Are the Earliest Endometrial Changes to Justify a Diagnosis of Endometrial Cancer?" American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 66, no. 5 (November 1953); and TeLinde, "Carcinoma in Situ of the Cervix," Obstetrics and Gynecology 1, no. 1 (January 1953); also the biog raphy Rich ard Wesley TeLinde, by Howard W. Jones, Georgeanna Jones, and William E. Ticknor.

For information on the history of radium and its use as a cancer treatment, see The First 100 Years; the website of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency at epa.gov/iris/subst/0295.htm; D. J. DiSantis and D. M. DiSantis, "Radiologic History Exhibit: Wrong Turns on Radiology's Road of Progress," Radiographics 11 (1991); and Multiple Exposures: Chronicles of the Radiation Age, by Catherine Caufield.

Sources on the standard treatment regimen for cervical cancer in the 1950s include A. Brunschwig, "The Operative Treatment of Carcinoma of the Cervix: Radical Panhysterectomy with Pelvic Lymph Node Excision," American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 61, no. 6 (June 1951); R. W Green, "Carcinoma of the Cervix: Surgical Treatment (A Review)," Journal of the Maine Medical a.s.sociation 42, no. 11 (November 1952); R. T Schmidt, "Panhysterectomy in the Treatment of Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix: Evaluation of Results," JAMA 146, no. 14 (August 4, 1951); and S. B. Gus-berg and J. A. Corscaden, "The Pathology and Treatment of Adenocarcinoma of the Cervix," Cancer 4, no. 5 (September 1951).

Growth of the L-cell (the first immortal cell line, grown from a mouse) was doc.u.mented in W R. Earle et al., "Production of Malignancy in Vitro. IV. The Mouse Fibroblast Cultures and Changes Seen in Living Cells," Journal of the NCI 4 (1943).

For information about Gey's pre-HeLa cell culture work, see G. O. Gey, "Studies on the Cultivation of Human Tissue Outside the Body," Wisconsin JJ. 28, no. 11 (1929); G. O. Gey and M. K. Gey, "The Maintenance of Human Normal Cells and Human Tumor Cells in Continuous Culture I. A Preliminary Report," American Journal of Cancer 27, no. 45 (May 1936); an overview can be found in G. Gey, F Bang, and M. Gey, "An Evaluation of Some Comparative Studies on Cultured Strains of Normal and Malignant Cells in Animals and Man," Texas Reports on Biology and Medicine (Winter 1954).

Chapter 4: The Birth of HeLa

For information on Gey's development of the roller drum, see "An Improved Technic for Ma.s.sive Tissue Culture," American Journal of Cancer 17 (1933); for his early work filming cells, see G. O. Gey and W. M. Firor, "Phase Contrast Microscopy of Living Cells," Annals of Surgery 125 (1946). For the abstract he eventually published doc.u.menting the initial growth of the HeLa cell line, see G. O. Gey, W. D. Coffman, and M. T. Kubicek, "Tissue Culture Studies of the Proliferative Capacity of Cervical Carcinoma and Normal Epithelium," Cancer Research 12 (1952): 26465. For a thorough discussion of his work on HeLa and other cultures, see G. O. Gey, "Some Aspects of the Const.i.tution and Behavior of Normal and Malignant Cells Maintained in Continuous Culture," The Harvey Lecture Series L (195455).

Chapter 5: "Blackness Be Spreadin All Inside"

TeLinde's discussion of the "psychic effects of hysterectomy" can be found in "Hysterectomy: Present-Day Indications," Journal of the Michigan State Medical Society, July 1949.

Chapter 6: "Lady's on the Phone"

Papers from the first HeLa symposium were published in "The HeLa Cancer Control Symposium: Presented at the First Annual Women's Health Conference, Morehouse School of Medicine, October 11, 1996," edited by Roland Pattillo, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology suppl. 176, no. 6 (June 1997).

For an overview of the Tuskegee study aimed at the general public, see Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, by James H. Jones; see also "Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Legacy Committee," Vanessa Northington Gamble, chair (May 20, 1996).

Chapter 7: The Death and Life of Cell Culture

For the television segment featuring George Gey, see "Cancer Will Be Conquered," Johns Hopkins University: Special Collections Science Review Series (April 10, 1951).

For additional reading on the history of cell culture, see Culturing Life: How Cells Became Technologies, by Hannah Landecker, the definitive history; also see The Immortalists: Charles Lindberg, Dr. Alexis Carrel, and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever, by David M. Friedman. For a general over view of Hopkins's contributions to cell culture, see "History of Tissue Culture at Johns Hopkins," Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1977).

To re-create the story of Alexis Carrel and his chicken heart, I relied on these sources and many others: A. Carrel and M. T Burrows, "Cultivation of Tissues in Vitro and Its Technique," Journal of Experimental Medicine (January 15, 1911); "On the Permanent Life of Tissues Outside of the Organism," Journal of Experimental Medicine (March 15, 1912); Albert H. Ebeling, "A Ten Year Old Strain of Fibroblasts," Journal of Experimental Medicine (May 30, 1922), and "Dr. Carrel's Immortal Chicken Heart," Scientific American (January 1942); "The 'Immortality' of Tissues," Scientific American (October 26, 1912); "On the Trail of Immortality," McClure's (January 1913); "Herald of Immortality Foresees Suspended Animation," Newsweek (December 21, 1935); "Flesh That Is Immortal," World's Work 28 (October 1914); "Carrel's New Miracle Points Way to Avert Old Age!" New York Times Magazine (September 14, 1913); Alexis Carrel, "The Immortality of Animal Tissue, and Its Significance," The Golden Book Magazine 7 (June 1928); and "Men in Black," Time 31, number 24 (June 13, 1938). The n.o.bel Prize website also contains much useful information about Carrel.

For a history of cell culture in Europe, see W. Duncan, "The Early History of Tissue Culture in Britain: The Interwar Years," Social History of Medicine 18, no. 2 (2005), and Duncan Wilson, "'Make Dry Bones Live': Scientists' Responses to Changing Cultural Representation of Tissue Culture in Britain, 19182004," dissertation, University of Manchester (2005).

The conclusion that Carrel's chicken-heart cells were not actually immortal comes from interviews with Leonard Hayflick; also J. Witkowski, "The Myth of Cell Immortality," Trends in Biochemical Sciences (July 1985), and J. Witkowski, letter to the editor, Science 247 (March 23, 1990).

Chapter 9: Turner Station

The newspaper article that doc.u.mented Henrietta's address was Jacques Kelly, "Her Cells Made Her Immortal," Baltimore Sun, March 18, 1997. The article by Michael Rogers was "The Double-Edged Helix," Rolling Stone (March 25, 1976).

Chapter 10: The Other Side of the Tracks

For reports of the decline of Clover, see, for example, "South Boston, Halifax County, Virginia," an Economic Study by Virginia Electric and Power Company; "Town Begins to Move Ahead," Gazette-Virginian (May 23, 1974); "Town Wants to Disappear," Washington Times (May 15, 1988); and "Supes Decision Could End Clover's Township," Gazette-Virginian (May 18, 1998); "Historical Monograph: Black Walnut Plantation Rural Historic District, Halifax County, Virginia," Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (April 1996). Population figures are available at census.gov.

PART TWO: DEATH

Chapter 12: The Storm

For a discussion of the history of court decisions and rights regarding autopsies, see Subjected to Science, by Susan Lederer.

Chapter 13: The HeLa Factory

For further reading on the history of the polio vaccine, see The Virus and the Vaccine, by Debbie Bookchin and Jim Shumacher; Polio: An American Story, by David M. Oshinski; Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio, by Jeffrey Kluger; and The Cutter Incident: How America's First Polio Vaccine Led to the Growing Crisis in Vaccines, by Paul Offit.

Details of the initial growth of poliovirus using HeLa cells, and the subsequent development of shipping methods, is doc.u.mented in letters housed at the AMCMA and the March of Dimes Archives, as well as in J. Syverton, W. Scherer, and G. O. Gey, "Studies on the Propagation in Vitro of Poliomyelitis Virus," Journal of Experimental Medicine 97, no. 5 (May 1, 1953).

The history of the HeLa ma.s.s production facilities at Tuskegee is doc.u.mented in letters, expense reports, and other doc.u.ments at the March of Dimes Archives. For a comprehensive overview, see Russell W. Brown and James H. M. Henderson, "The Ma.s.s Production and Distribution of HeLa Cells at the Tuskegee Inst.i.tute, 195355," Journal of the History of Medicine 38 (1983).

A detailed history of many scientific advances that followed the growth of HeLa can be found in letters and other papers in the AMCA and TCAA. The book Culturing Life: How Cells Became Technologies, by Han nah Lan decker, provides a comprehensive overview. Many of the scientific papers referred to in this chapter are collected in Readings in Mammalian Cell Culture, edited by Robert Pollack, including H. Eagle, "Nutrition Needs of Mammalian Cells in Tissue Culture," Science 122 (1955): 5014; T T. Puck and P. I. Marcus, "A Rapid Method for Viable Cell t.i.tration and Clone Production with HeLa Cells in Tissue Culture: The Use of X-irradiated Cells to Study Conditioning Factors," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 41 (1955); J. H. Tjio and A. Levan, "The Chromosome Number of Man," Cytogenics 42 (January 26, 1956). See also M. J. Kottler, "From 48 to 46: Cytological Technique, Preconception, and the Counting of Human Chromosomes," Bulletin of the History of Medicine 48, no. 4 (1974); H. E. Swim, "Microbiological Aspects of Tissue Culture," Annual Review of Microbiology 13 (1959); J. Craigie, "Survival and Preservation of Tumors in the Frozen State," Advanced Cancer Research 2 (1954); W. Scherer and A. Hoo gasian, "Preservation at Subzero Temperatures of Mouse Fibroblasts (Strain L) and Human Epithelial Cells (Strain HeLa)," Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 87, no. 2 (1954); T. C. Hsu, "Mammalian Chromosomes in Vitro: The Karyotype of Man," Journal of Heredity 43 (1952); and D. Pearlman, "Value of Mammalian Cell Culture as Biochemical Tool," Science 160 (April 1969); and N. P. Salzman, "Animal Cell Cultures," Science 133, no. 3464 (May 1961).

Other useful resources for this chapter include Human and Mammalian Cytogenetics: An Historical Perspective, by T C. Hsu; and C. Moberg, "Keith Porter and the Founding of the Tissue Culture a.s.sociation: A Fiftieth Anniversary Tribute, 19461996," In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology-Animal (November 1996).

Chapter 14: Helen Lane

The debate about releasing Henrietta's name to the public is doc.u.mented in letters located in the AMCA. The article that identified "Henrietta Lakes" as the source of the HeLa cell line was "U Polio-detection Method to Aid in Prevention Plans," Minneapolis Star, November 2, 1953. The first article to identify "Helen L." as the source of the HeLa cell line was Bill Davidson, "Probing the Secret of Life," Collier's, May 14, 1954.

Chapter 17: Illegal, Immoral, and Deplorable

Southam's cancer cell injections are doc.u.mented in many scientific articles he auth.o.r.ed or coauth.o.r.ed, including "Neoplastic Changes Developing in Epithelial Cell Lines Derived from Normal Persons," Science 124, no. 3212 (July 20, 1956); "Transplantation of Human Tumors," letter, Science 125, no. 3239 (January 25, 1957); "h.o.m.otransplantation of Human Cell Lines," Science 125, no. 3239 (January 25, 1957); "Applications of Immunology to Clinical Cancer Past Attempts and Future Possibilities," Cancer Research 21 (October 1961): 130216; and "History and Prospects of Immunotherapy of Cancer," Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 277, no. 1 (1976).

For media coverage of Southam's prison studies, see "Convicts to Get Cancer Injection," New York Times, May 23, 1956; "Cancer by the Needle," Newsweek, June 4, 1956; "14 Convicts Injected with Live Cancer Cells," New York Times, June 15, 1956; "Cancer Volunteers," Time, February 25, 1957; "Cancer Defenses Found to Differ," New York Times, April 15, 1957; "Cancer Injections Cause 'Reaction,'" New York Times, July 18, 1956; "Convicts Sought for Cancer Test," New York Times, August 1, 1957.

The most complete resource on Southam's cancer cell injections and the hearings that followed is Experimentation with Human Beings, by Jay Katz, in which he collected extensive original correspondence, court doc.u.ments, and other materials that might otherwise have been lost, as they weren't retained by the Board of Regents. Also see Jay Katz, "Experimentation on Human Beings," Stanford Law Review 20 (November 1967). For Hyman's lawsuits, see William A. Hyman v. Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital (42 Misc. 2d 427; 248N.YS.2d 245; 1964 and 15 N.Y.2d 317; 206 N.E.2d 338; 258 N.Y.S.2d 397; 1965). Also see patient lawsuit, Alvin Zeleznik v. Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital (47 A.D.2d 199; 366 N.Y.S.2d 163; 1975). Beecher's paper is H. Beecher, "Ethics and Clinical Research," New England Journal of Medicine 274, no. 24 (June 16, 1966).

The news coverage of the ethical debate surrounding the Southam controversy includes "Scientific Experts Condemn Ethics of Cancer Injection," New York Times, January 26, 1964; Earl Ubell, "Why the Big Fuss," Chronicle-Telegram, January 25, 1961; Elinor Langer, "Human Experimentation: Cancer Studies at Sloan-Kettering Stir Public Debate on Medical Eth ics," Science 143 (February 7, 1964); and Elinor Langer, "Human Experimentation: New York Verdict Affirms Patient Rights," Science (February 11, 1966).

Susan E. Lederer's Subjected to Science: Human Experimentation in America Before the Second World War is a must-read on the ethics and history of research on human subjects, as is George J. Annas and Michael A. Grodin's The n.a.z.i Doctors and the Nuremberg Code: Human Rights in Human Experimentation. Both were important sources for this chapter. For the history of experimentation on prisoners, see Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison, by Allen Hornblum, who interviewed Southam before he died, and kindly shared information from those interviews with me.

For further reading in the history of bioethics, including the changes that followed the Southam controversy, see Albert R. Jonsen's The Birth of Bioethics; David J. Rothman's Strangers at the Bedside: A History of How Law and Bioethics Transformed Medical Decision Making; George J. Annas's Informed Consent to Human Experimentation: The Subject's Di lemma; M. S. Frankel, "The Development of Policy Guidelines Governing Human Experimentation in the United States: A Case Study of Public Policy-making for Science and Technology," Ethics in Science and Medicine 2, no. 48 (1975); and R. B. Livingston, "Progress Report on Survey of Moral and Ethical Aspects of Clinical Investigation: Memorandum to Director, NIH" (November 4, 1964).