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35 Years of Hope and Healing

John S. Stehlin, M.D. and Beppino C. Giovanella, Ph.D., making patient rounds late one evening in 1974.

The Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research was established by surgical oncologist, Dr. John S. Stehlin, with a specific and urgent mission: to find and develop the most effective treatments for the patient suffering from cancer in the shortest period of time.

Recognizing the lack of communication between the scientist studying the cancer in the laboratory and the physician treating the patient at the bedside, the Stehlin team developed the concept of a tripartnership between clinician, research scientist, and patient. In a tripartnership, the effort is collaborative, with the dignity of the patient as a top priority.

“If there’s one thing we learned from John,” commented Bobby Anderson, “it was to care about the person. He always said, ‘I don’t treat cancer – I treat Mrs. Smith, who unfortunately happens to have cancer.” This humane approach has continued to distinguish the Stehlin Foundation’s work for 35 years.

Pioneering to Save Lives
The Foundation’s first experiment was performed in May 1970 in a small room adjacent to the maternity ward in what is today Christus St. Joseph Hospital. The initial budget was set at $38,500, with total resources of $90,000. From these humble
beginnings, under the leadership of Dr. Stehlin, Laboratory Director Dr. Beppino Giovanella, and Executive Director Bobby Anderson, the Foundation has gone on to earn an international reputation as a cancer research and treatment facility.

From the start, the Stehlin Foundation relied on a unique approach that has since been accepted as traditional protocol.

Many of the ideas pioneered at the Stehlin Foundation which include conducting clinically oriented research, focusing all research on human cancers, developing the athymic “nude” mouse for research purposes, offering lumpectomy as a treatment for breast cancer, including hyperthermia in the treatment for melanoma, and infusing anti-cancer drugs directly into affected organs – were a departure from mainstream medicine.

When it was introduced at the Stehlin Foundation, it was unheard-of for researchers to accompany the physician on patient rounds, and for physicians to participate in the research work. In addition, the Foundation’s humane approach – paying attention to the emotional and spiritual needs of the patient – went beyond the realm of standard protocol.

Today, many of the methods initiated at the Foundation are accepted as the “gold standard” of modern medicine by national cancer groups. Most importantly, countless people are alive today because of the research and therapies developed at the Stehlin Foundation.

The Work, and the Challenge, Continue
Since 1971, the research of the Stehlin Foundation has taken place in a 15,000 square foot facility on the 12-city-block campus of Christus St. Joseph Hospital, in the heart of downtown Houston. The focus remains on research that can be applied to cancer patients in the real, not theoretical, world.

All laboratory work of the Stehlin Foundation is conducted on cancers removed from patients and implanted into genetically immune-deficient mice. Commented Bobby Anderson, “Once these tumors begin to grow, our work is to test both traditional and experimental drugs and treatments for effectiveness. To our knowledge, we were the first research laboratory limiting our investigations to human cancers.”

Through more than 300 medical and research papers and published findings, all breakthrough developments of the Stehlin Foundation have been communicated to the medical community.

“Our goal is not to limit the use or knowledge of our discoveries,” said Bobby Anderson. “On the contrary — we are working for the common goal of eradicating cancer and improving treatment for people suffering from the disease.”

Hope for the Future — Camptothecin
One of the most promising areas of research for the Stehlin Foundation is a new family of anticancer drugs, the camptothecins, which its scientists have been investigating since 1988.

The first camptothecin studies at the Foundation enrolled patients who had failed conventional treatments, such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Favorable responses were seen with breast, prostate, pancreas, ovarian, and lymphoma cancers, as well as malignant melanoma. Side effects were minimal.

Camptothecin drugs can be taken orally on an outpatient basis, which offers both a more pleasant and less expensive form of therapy, in contrast to drugs that must be given intravenously.

“Like many in the medical community, we have great hope for the camptothecins,” summarized Bobby Anderson. “However, people don’t realize the time and expense involved getting even the most promising drugs into the hands of patients.

‘“There’s a lot of work to do, and we intend to do it. Helping people with cancer is the legacy John Stehlin established 35 years ago — and what we’re still doing today.”

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