Born in 1919, African American cancer researcher and surgeon Jane Cooke Wright, MD, was an early champion of chemotherapy.
Nicknamed the Mother of Chemotherapy, Dr. Wright pioneered new and more effective ways to administer the treatment, which had been regarded as a largely experimental, often ineffective last resort for the first half of the 20th century. She was the first to demonstrate the efficacy of the leukemia drug Methotrexate in treating other cancers, especially when delivered directly to tumor sites. Methotrexate is still used in many chemotherapy medications today.
In an era when racism and sexism were pervasive in medicine, Dr. Wright played a role in other “firsts” as well. She was the only African American and the only woman among the founding members of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) as well as the first woman president of the New York Cancer Society.
Decades later, Dr. Wright’s individualized approach to cancer treatment has informed other areas of oncology, including the field of precision medicine.
Precision Medicine: A Personalized Approach
Dr. Wright sought to individualize medicine to improve outcomes for each patient. Her early efforts included deriving tissue cultures from patients to test the effects of drugs and developing non-surgical methods for targeted delivery of medicines. This personalized approach, also known as precision medicine, has advanced significantly in recent decades.
Oncologists now can analyze a patient's specific biomarkers, cancer type, and other relevant factors to help patients achieve the best outcomes possible. This includes targeted therapies and other strategies to minimize harmful side effects from cancer treatment.
The Importance of Centering Patients
Patients undergoing chemotherapy, in particular, often experience serious side effects. Individual states have taken steps to ease these burdens on patients who are treated with chemotherapy. For example, in New York, Assembly Bill 430 seeks to mitigate hair loss in chemotherapy patients by requiring large group health insurance policies to cover scalp cooling treatment, which works by constricting blood vessels and minimizing chemotherapy exposure to hair follicles. Medicare has recently followed in New York’s footsteps, by adding scalp cooling to the 2026 physician fee schedule.
Scalp cooling is part of a growing class of treatments with the express goal of reducing side effects of cancer treatment. Other supportive care strategies include the use of medications to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea and pain, special skincare treatments and oral care products, integrative therapies, psychological support, and nutritional counseling.
We can trace the rise of precision medicine and supportive care to pioneers like Dr. Wright, who helped change the face of modern oncology through their dedication to improving patients’ lives while treating their cancer.