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SUMMARY:Controversy\, mistrust\, even witchcraft: the failure of cancer th
 erapy with neutrons - Gerald Kutcher (Binghamton University)
DTSTART:20130502T153000Z
DTEND:20130502T170000Z
UID:TALK44694@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Helen Curry
DESCRIPTION:Shortly following World War II\, the Medical Research Council 
 funded a cyclotron for the Hammersmith Hospital in London\, which by the l
 ate 1960s was committed primarily to neutron therapy. The leader of the pr
 oject\, Mary Catterall\, reported outstanding clinical outcomes\, which gr
 eatly influenced worldwide support for neutron machines. Nevertheless\, wi
 thin a few years\, William Duncan who headed a second MRC cyclotron in Edi
 nburgh reported no improvement in tumour control and severe complications.
  The ensuing controversy between Duncan and Catterall spread into the broa
 der public community when Catterall attempted to fund a new cyclotron in L
 ondon with the support of the office of Prime Minister Thatcher. The contr
 oversy which was marked by highly personal attacks against Catterall so ba
 dly discredited neutron therapy that within a few years programs were clos
 ed down on both sides of the Atlantic. The neutron story is more than a ta
 le of operatic proportions\, for it reveals the crucial role trust plays i
 n medical research and how in spite of formal clinical trials the receptio
 n of a new therapy can be damaged by the perceived character of an investi
 gator.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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