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{{Short description|American oncologist and academic}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image = Nci-vol-2727-300 Vincent DeVita.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = DeVita in 1999
| birth_name = Vincent Theodore DeVita Jr.
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|March 7, 1935}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| spouse = Mary Kay Bush
| children = {{ubl|[[Ted DeVita]]|[[Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn|Elizabeth DeVita]]}}
| relatives = [[Paul Raeburn]] (son-in-law)}}


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'''Vincent Theodore DeVita Jr.''' (born March 7, 1935) is the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at [[Yale Cancer Center]], and a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health. He directed the Yale Cancer Center from 1993 to 2003.<ref name="ASCO"/> He has been president of the board of directors of the [[American Cancer Society]] (2012-2013).<ref name="ACS2012">{{cite news|title=Dr. Vincent DeVita elected president of the voluntary board of the American Cancer Society|url=http://news.yale.edu/dr-vincent-devita-elected-president-voluntary-board-american-cancer-society|access-date=12 July 2017|work=Yale News|date=November 19, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Distillations"/> He is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of [[oncology]] for his work on combination-chemotherapy treatments.<ref name="ASCO"/><ref name="Freddie"/>
[[File:Nci-vol-2727-300 Vincent DeVita.jpg|thumb|Dr. Vincent T. DeVita, Jr. ([[Mike Mitchell (photographer)|Mike Mitchell]],1999)]]
[[File:Pierluigi nervi international award for cancer research.jpg|thumb|The Pier Luigi Nervi International Award for Cancer Research that DeVita received in 1985]]
[[File:Pierluigi nervi international award for cancer research.jpg|thumb|The Pier Luigi Nervi International Award for Cancer Research that DeVita received in 1985]]

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'''Vincent Theodore DeVita, Jr.''', MD (born March 7, 1935) is the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at [[Yale Cancer Center]], and a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health. He directed the Yale Cancer Center from 1993 to 2003.<ref name="ASCO"/> He has been president of the [[American Cancer Society]] (2012-2013).<ref name="ACS2012">{{cite news|title=Dr. Vincent DeVita elected president of the voluntary board of the American Cancer Society|url=http://news.yale.edu/dr-vincent-devita-elected-president-voluntary-board-american-cancer-society|accessdate=12 July 2017|work=Yale News|date=November 19, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Distillations"/> He is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of [[oncology]] for his work on combination-chemotherapy treatments.<ref name="ASCO"/><ref name="Freddie"/>


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
Vincent DeVita was born in [[The Bronx]], New York.<ref name="WHO">{{cite book|chapter=DeVita, Vincent Theodore, Jr.|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=_a87AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Devita,+Vincent+Theodore%22+1935&dq=%22Devita,+Vincent+Theodore%22+1935&hl=en&sa=X&ei=M92WUfeuApCxigKKh4C4CQ&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBA|title=Who's Who in Frontiers of Science and Technology|date=1985|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|location=Chicago, Ill.|isbn=9780837957029|accessdate=11 July 2017}}</ref>
Vincent DeVita was born in [[The Bronx]], New York.<ref name="WHO">{{cite book|chapter=DeVita, Vincent Theodore, Jr.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_a87AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Devita,+Vincent+Theodore%22+1935|title=Who's Who in Frontiers of Science and Technology|date=1985|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|location=Chicago, Ill.|isbn=9780837957029|access-date=11 July 2017|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinfrontie0000unse}}</ref>


DeVita attended the [[College of William and Mary]], receiving his [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in 1957. In 1961 he earned his [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]] degree with distinction from the [[George Washington University]] School of Medicine.<ref name="Freddie"/><ref name="ASCO">{{cite news|title=Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., MD Honored by ASCO (press release)|url=http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=39098|accessdate=11 July 2017|work=Webwire|date=12 June 2007}}</ref>
DeVita attended the [[College of William and Mary]], receiving his [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in 1957. In 1961 he earned his [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]] degree with distinction from the [[George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences]].<ref name="Freddie"/><ref name="ASCO">{{cite news|title=Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., MD Honored by ASCO (press release)|url=http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=39098|access-date=11 July 2017|work=Webwire|date=12 June 2007}}</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
DeVita joined the [[National Cancer Institute]] (NCI) in 1963 as a clinical fellow, working with [[Tom Frei]], [[Jay Freireich]] and others. He returned as a senior investigator in 1966 after completing his training at Yale-New Haven Medical Center in 1965.<ref name="Carter"/><ref name="Jacobs"/><ref name="Groopman">{{cite news|last1=Groopman|first1=Jerome|title=Cancer: A Time for Skeptics|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/03/10/cancer-time-for-skeptics/|accessdate=12 July 2017|work=The New York Review of Books|date=March 10, 2016}}</ref> While at the NCI, he helped to develop [[MOPP (medicine)|MOPP]], a four-drug combination that was the first successful combination chemotherapy program. At the time, many oncologists believed such an approach was too toxic and would do more harm than good. MOPP was used to treat [[Hodgkin's disease]] and diffuse large cell [[lymphoma]]s, reducing the likelihood of dying from Hodgkin's disease from nearly 100% to around 30%.<ref name="Freddie"/> DeVita's results, presented in 1965 and 1970 were initially viewed with considerable disbelief.<ref name="Jacobs"/>
DeVita joined the [[National Cancer Institute]] (NCI) in 1963 as a clinical fellow, working with [[Emil Frei|Emil "Tom" Frei]], [[Emil J. Freireich]] and others. He returned as a senior investigator in 1966 after completing his training at Yale-New Haven Medical Center in 1965.<ref name="Carter"/><ref name="Jacobs"/><ref name="Groopman">{{cite news|last1=Groopman|first1=Jerome|title=Cancer: A Time for Skeptics|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/03/10/cancer-time-for-skeptics/|access-date=12 July 2017|work=The New York Review of Books|date=March 10, 2016}}</ref>
At NCI, DeVita held the following posts: Senior Investigator in the Solid Tumor Service, Head of the Solid Tumor Service, Chief of the Medicine Branch, Director of the Division of Cancer Treatment and Clinical Director of NCI (as of 1975).<ref name="Carter"/>
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By demonstrating that a combination-chemotherapy regimen could be successful, DeVita established the basis for further combination therapies, which became a mainstay of cancer treatment.<ref name="Distillations"/><ref name="Jacobs">{{cite book|last1=Jacobs|first1=Charlotte DeCroes|title=Henry Kaplan and the story of Hodgkin's disease|date=2010|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford, Calif.|isbn=0804768668|pages=185-190|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0hHMo2_FA2cC&pg=PA185|accessdate=12 July 2017}}</ref>
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In addition, in collaboration with [[George Canellos]], DeVita developed the combination chemotherapy [[Cyclophosphamide Methotrexate Fluorouracil|CMF]], which still remains a useful therapy for [[breast cancer]].<ref name="Mukherjee"/>{{rp|165}} <ref name="Canellos">{{cite journal|last1=Canellos|first1=George P.|first2= Vincent T. |last2=DeVita|
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first3= G. Lennard |last3=Gold|first4= Bruce A. |last4=Chabner|first5=Philip S.|last5=Schein |first6= Robert C. |last6= Young|title=Combination Chemotherapy for Advanced Breast Cancer: Response and Effect on Survival|journal=Annals of Internal Medicine|date=1 April 1976|volume=84|issue=4|pages=389|doi=10.7326/0003-4819-84-4-389|url=http://annals.org/aim/article/690198/combination-chemotherapy-advanced-breast-cancer-response-effect-survival|accessdate=12 July 2017}}</ref> At NCI, DeVita held the following posts: Senior Investigator in the Solid Tumor Service, Head of the Solid Tumor Service, Chief of the Medicine Branch, Director of the Division of Cancer Treatment and Clinical Director of NCI (as of 1975).<ref name="Carter"/>


While at NCI, he helped to develop [[MOPP (medicine)|MOPP]], a four-drug combination that was the first successful combination chemotherapy program. At the time, many oncologists believed such an approach was too toxic and would do more harm than good. MOPP was used to treat [[Hodgkin's disease]] and diffuse large cell [[lymphoma]]s, reducing the likelihood of dying from Hodgkin's disease from nearly 100% to around 30%.<ref name="Freddie"/> DeVita's results, presented in 1965 and 1970 were initially viewed with considerable disbelief.<ref name="Jacobs"/>
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From 1977 to 1978, DeVita was the president of the [[American Society of Clinical Oncology]] (ASCO).<ref>{{cite web|title=ASCO Presidents Through the Years|url=http://www.ascopost.com/issues/june-3-2017-narratives-special-issue/asco-presidents-through-the-years/|website=ASCO Post|accessdate=12 July 2017}}</ref>
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By demonstrating that a combination-chemotherapy regimen could be successful, DeVita established the basis for further combination therapies, which became a mainstay of cancer treatment.<ref name="Distillations"/><ref name="Jacobs">{{cite book|last1=Jacobs|first1=Charlotte DeCroes|title=Henry Kaplan and the story of Hodgkin's disease|date=2010|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford, Calif.|isbn=978-0804768665|pages=185–190|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0hHMo2_FA2cC&pg=PA185|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>
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In addition, in collaboration with [[George Canellos]], DeVita developed the combination chemotherapy [[Cyclophosphamide Methotrexate Fluorouracil|CMF]], which still remains a useful therapy for [[breast cancer]].<ref name="Mukherjee"/>{{rp|165}}<ref name="Canellos">{{cite journal|last1=Canellos|first1=George P.|first2= Vincent T. |last2=DeVita|
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first3= G. Lennard |last3=Gold|first4= Bruce A. |last4=Chabner|first5=Philip S.|last5=Schein |first6= Robert C. |last6= Young|title=Combination Chemotherapy for Advanced Breast Cancer: Response and Effect on Survival|journal=Annals of Internal Medicine|date=1 April 1976|volume=84|issue=4|pages=389–92|doi=10.7326/0003-4819-84-4-389|pmid=1259283}}</ref>


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From 1977 to 1978, DeVita was the president of the [[American Society of Clinical Oncology]] (ASCO).<ref name="presidents">{{cite web|title=ASCO Presidents Through the Years|url=http://www.ascopost.com/issues/june-3-2017-narratives-special-issue/asco-presidents-through-the-years/|website=ASCO Post|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>
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In 1980, DeVita was appointed Director of the NCI and the National Cancer Program by President [[Jimmy Carter]],<ref name="Carter">{{cite news|title=National Cancer Institute Appointment of Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., as Director. July 9, 1980|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=44736|accessdate=12 July 2017|work=The American Presidency Project|date=July 9, 1980}}</ref><ref name="Greenberg">{{cite journal|last1=Greenberg|first1=Daniel S.|title=A Conversation with Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., M.D.|journal=The New England Journal of Medicine|date=1980|volume=303|pages=1014-1016|url=http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM198010233031744|accessdate=11 July 2017}}</ref> a position he held until 1988.<ref name="BJC"/>


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In 1980, DeVita was appointed Director of the NCI and the National Cancer Program by President [[Jimmy Carter]],<ref name="Carter">{{cite news|title=National Cancer Institute Appointment of Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., as Director. July 9, 1980|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=44736|access-date=12 July 2017|work=The American Presidency Project|date=July 9, 1980}}</ref><ref name="Greenberg">{{cite journal|last1=Greenberg|first1=Daniel S.|title=A Conversation with Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., M.D.|journal=The New England Journal of Medicine|date=1980|volume=303|issue=17|pages=1014–1016|doi=10.1056/nejm198010233031744|pmid=7412849}}</ref> a position he held until 1988.<ref name="BJC"/>
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From January 1989 to 1993, DeVita was Physician-in-Chief and Attending Physician at [[Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center]] where he was part of the program for Molecular Pharmacology.<ref name="BJC">{{cite journal|last1=C.|first1=B. J.|title=DeVita is Leaving Cancer Insitute for Sloan-Kettering|journal=Science|date=19 August 1988|volume=241|issue=4868|page=899|doi=10.1126/science.241.4868.899-a|url=http://science.sciencemag.org/content/241/4868/899.2|accessdate=12 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="Altman">{{cite news|last1=Altman|first1=Lawrence K.|title=Doctor Quits Post at Sloan-Kettering|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/26/us/doctor-quits-post-at-sloan-kettering.html|accessdate=12 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=May 26, 1991}}</ref><ref name="Piccini">{{cite news|last1=Piccini|first1=Sara|title=Life on the Front Lines|url=http://wmalumnimagazine.com/2016/summer/tribe/life-on-the-front-lines/|accessdate=12 July 2017|work=William and Mary|date=Summer 2016}}</ref>


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From January 1989 to 1993, DeVita was Physician-in-Chief and Attending Physician at [[Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center]] where he was part of the program for Molecular Pharmacology.<ref name="BJC">{{cite journal|last1=C.|first1=B. J.|title=DeVita is Leaving Cancer Institute for Sloan-Kettering|journal=Science|date=19 August 1988|volume=241|issue=4868|page=899|doi=10.1126/science.241.4868.899-a}}</ref><ref name="Altman">{{cite news|last1=Altman|first1=Lawrence K.|title=Doctor Quits Post at Sloan-Kettering|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/26/us/doctor-quits-post-at-sloan-kettering.html|access-date=12 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=May 26, 1991}}</ref><ref name="Piccini">{{cite news|last1=Piccini|first1=Sara|title=Life on the Front Lines|url=http://wmalumnimagazine.com/2016/summer/tribe/life-on-the-front-lines/|access-date=12 July 2017|work=William and Mary|date=Summer 2016}}</ref>
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In 1993 he returned to Yale, where he became Director of [[Yale Cancer Center]], serving from 1993 to 2003. In 2004, he was named the the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at Yale University, a position to be renamed the Vincent T. DeVita Professor of Medicine after his tenure. He is currently the chair of the Yale Cancer Center advisory board and is professor of [[internal medicine]] and of [[epidemiology]] and [[public health]] at [[Yale School of Medicine|Yale's medical school]].<ref name="Awards">{{cite journal|title=Awards, Appointments, Announcements|journal=JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute|date=16 March 2004|volume=96|issue=6|pages=433–433|doi=10.1093/jnci/96.6.433|url=https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/96/6/433/2606773/Awards-Appointments-Announcements}}</ref>

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In 1993 he returned to Yale, where he became Director of [[Yale Cancer Center]], serving from 1993 to 2003. In 2004, he was named as the Amy and [[Joseph Perella]] Professor of Medicine at Yale University, a position to be renamed the Vincent T. DeVita Professor of Medicine after his tenure. He is currently the chair of the Yale Cancer Center advisory board and is professor of [[internal medicine]] and of [[epidemiology]] and [[public health]] at [[Yale School of Medicine|Yale's medical school]].<ref name="Awards">{{cite journal|title=Awards, Appointments, Announcements|journal=JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute|date=16 March 2004|volume=96|issue=6|pages=433|doi=10.1093/jnci/96.6.433|doi-access=free}}</ref>


From 2012-2013, DeVita served as president of the board of directors of the [[American Cancer Society]].<ref name="ACS2012"/>
From 2012-2013, DeVita served as president of the board of directors of the [[American Cancer Society]].<ref name="ACS2012"/>
DeVita currently serves on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals and has authored over 450 scientific articles. He is a co-editor of the textbook ''Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology'', in its 10th edition,<ref name="Distillations"/> and serves as the co-editor-in-chief of ''[[The Cancer Journal]]''.<ref name="ASCO"/>
DeVita currently serves on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals and has authored over 450 scientific articles. He is a co-editor of the textbook ''Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology'', in its 10th edition,<ref name="Distillations"/> and serves as the co-editor-in-chief of ''[[The Cancer Journal]]''.<ref name="ASCO"/>


He is also the co-author, with his daughter [[Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn]], of the autobiographical book, ''The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer Is Winnable—and How We Can Get There''.<ref name="Distillations"/><ref name="Zugner">{{cite news|last1=Zugner|first1=Abigail|title=Review: Science and Politics Collide in ‘The Death of Cancer'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/science/review-science-and-politics-collide-in-the-death-of-cancer.html|accessdate=11 July 2017|work=New York Times|date=November 30, 2015}}</ref><ref name="NPR"/><ref name="Piccini"/>
He is also the co-author, with his daughter [[Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn]], of the autobiographical book, ''The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer Is Winnable—and How We Can Get There''.<ref name="Distillations"/><ref name="Zugner">{{cite news|last1=Zugner|first1=Abigail|title=Review: Science and Politics Collide in 'The Death of Cancer'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/science/review-science-and-politics-collide-in-the-death-of-cancer.html|access-date=11 July 2017|work=New York Times|date=November 30, 2015}}</ref><ref name="NPR"/><ref name="Piccini"/>

He was a participant in [[Ken Burns]]' 2015 PBS documentary ''[[Cancer (film)|Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies]]'',<ref name="Bock">{{cite news|last1=Bock|first1=Eric|title=NIH Scientists Featured in PBS Cancer Documentary|url=https://nihrecord.nih.gov/newsletters/2015/04_24_2015/story4.htm|access-date=11 July 2017|work=NIH Record|date=April 24, 2015}}</ref>
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which was based on the [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning [[The Emperor of All Maladies|book]] by [[Siddhartha Mukherjee]].<ref name="Mukherjee">{{cite book|last1=Mukherjee|first1=Siddhartha|title=The emperor of all maladies : a biography of cancer|date=2011|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|isbn=978-1439170915|edition=1st Scribner}}</ref>

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== Personal life ==
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DeVita married Mary Kay Bush,<ref name="Jacobs"/> with whom he had two children, [[Ted DeVita|Ted]] and [[Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn|Elizabeth]]. DeVita diagnosed his son Ted's [[aplastic anemia]]. Ted thereafter was placed in a sterile environment for his safety and died in 1980.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web|last1=Gross|first1=Terry|title=Oncologist Discusses Advancements In Treatment And The Ongoing War On Cancer|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/10/28/452395967/oncologist-discusses-advancements-in-treatment-and-the-ongoing-war-on-cancer|website=NPR|date=October 28, 2015}}</ref><ref name="DeVita-Raeburn">{{cite news |last1=DeVita-Raeburn |first1=Elizabeth |title=Cancer Special Report 2017: Cancer Trends in Diagnosis, Stages, Treatment, and Survival Rates |url=https://www.everydayhealth.com/cancer/state-cancer-national-cancer-institute/ |access-date=9 July 2018 |work=Everyday Health |date=2017}}</ref>


He was a participant in [[Ken Burns]]' 2015 PBS documentary ''[[Cancer (film)|Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies]]'',<ref name="Bock">{{cite news|last1=Bock|first1=Eric|title=NIH Scientists Featured in PBS Cancer Documentary|url=https://nihrecord.nih.gov/newsletters/2015/04_24_2015/story4.htm|accessdate=11 July 2017|work=NIH Record|date=April 24, 2015}}</ref>
Ted's [[Severe combined immunodeficiency|situation]], and that of [[David Vetter]], inspired the 1976 TV movie ''[[The Boy in the Plastic Bubble]]'' starring [[John Travolta]].<ref name="McNees">{{cite news|last1=McNees|first1=Pat|title=The boy in the plastic bubble: Looking back at the boy looking out|url=https://www.cc.nih.gov/about/news/newsletter/2004/aug04/index.shtml#boy|access-date=11 July 2017|work=Clinical Center News|date=August 2004}}</ref> Elizabeth has written about the experience of losing her brother in ''The Empty Room''.<ref name="NPR"/>
which was based on the [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning [[The Emperor of All Maladies
⚫
|book]] by [[Siddhartha Mukherjee]].<ref name="Mukherjee">{{cite book|last1=Mukherjee|first1=Siddhartha|title=The emperor of all maladies : a biography of cancer|date=2011|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|isbn=978-1439170915|edition=1st Scribner}}</ref>


DeVita has been treated for prostate cancer.<ref name="Distillations" />
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== Personal ==
⚫
Vincent DeVita married Mary Kay Bush,<ref name="Jacobs"/> with whom he has had two children, Ted and Elizabeth. Vincent DeVita diagnosed his son [[Ted DeVita|Ted]] as a child with [[aplastic anemia]]. Ted thereafter was placed in a sterile environment for his safety, and died in 1980 at the age of 17.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web|last1=Gross|first1=Terry|title=Oncologist Discusses Advancements In Treatment And The Ongoing War On Cancer|url=http://www.npr.org/2015/10/28/452395967/oncologist-discusses-advancements-in-treatment-and-the-ongoing-war-on-cancer|website=NPR|date=October 28, 2015}}</ref> Ted's [[Severe combined immunodeficiency|situation]], and that of [[David Vetter]], inspired the 1976 TV movie ''[[The Boy in the Plastic Bubble]]'' starring [[John Travolta]].<ref name="McNees">{{cite news|last1=McNees|first1=Pat|title=The boy in the plastic bubble: Looking back at the boy looking out|url=https://www.cc.nih.gov/about/news/newsletter/2004/aug04/index.shtml#boy|accessdate=11 July 2017|work=Clinical Center News|date=August 2004}}</ref> His daughter [[Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn]] has written about the experience of losing her brother in ''The Empty Room''.<ref name="NPR"/> Vincent DeVita has been treated for prostate cancer.<ref name="Distillations"/>


==Awards==
==Awards==
* 1972, Albert Lasker Clinical Research Award<ref>{{cite web|title=1972 Lasker Awards|url=http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/year/1972/|website=Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation|accessdate=12 July 2017}}</ref>
* 1972, Albert Lasker Clinical Research Award<ref>{{cite web|title=1972 Lasker Awards|url=http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/year/1972/|website=Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref>
* 2002, elected member, [[European Academy of Sciences]]<ref name="Gaudette"/>
* 2007, Statesman Award, [[American Society of Clinical Oncology]] (ASCO)<ref name="ASCO"/>
* 2007, Statesman Award, [[American Society of Clinical Oncology]] (ASCO)<ref name="ASCO"/>
* 2007, FREDDIE Special Award for Public Service<ref name="Freddie">{{cite web|title=Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., MD Presented with a FREDDIE Award|url=http://medicine.yale.edu/lab/cooley/news/article.aspx?id=710|website=Yale School of Medicine|accessdate=November 2, 2007}}</ref>
* 2007, FREDDIE Special Award for Public Service<ref name="Freddie">{{cite web|title=Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., MD Presented with a FREDDIE Award|url=http://medicine.yale.edu/lab/cooley/news/article.aspx?id=710|website=Yale School of Medicine|access-date=November 2, 2007}}</ref>
* 2009, Distinguished Medical Science Award, Friends of the National Library of Medicine<ref>{{cite news|title=Celebrating Leadership in Public Health and Medicine Friends of the National Library of Medicine (FNLM)|url=https://medlineplus.gov/magazine/issues/summer09/articles/summer09pg19.html|accessdate=12 July 2017|work=NIH Medline Plus|date=2009}}</ref>
* 2009, Distinguished Medical Science Award, Friends of the National Library of Medicine<ref>{{cite news|title=Celebrating Leadership in Public Health and Medicine Friends of the National Library of Medicine (FNLM)|url=https://medlineplus.gov/magazine/issues/summer09/articles/summer09pg19.html|access-date=12 July 2017|work=NIH Medline Plus|date=2009}}</ref>
* 2014, fellow, [[American Association for Cancer Research]]<ref name="Gaudette">{{cite news|last1=Gaudette|first1=Renee|title=Yale’s Vincent DeVita named a fellow of American Association for Cancer Research Academy|url=http://news.yale.edu/2014/04/04/yale-s-vincent-devita-named-fellow-american-association-cancer-research-academy|accessdate=12 July 2017|work=Yale News|date=April 4, 2014}}</ref>
* 2014, fellow, [[American Association for Cancer Research]]<ref name="Gaudette">{{cite news|last1=Gaudette|first1=Renee|title=Yale's Vincent DeVita named a fellow of American Association for Cancer Research Academy|url=http://news.yale.edu/2014/04/04/yale-s-vincent-devita-named-fellow-american-association-cancer-research-academy|access-date=12 July 2017|work=Yale News|date=April 4, 2014}}</ref>


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last1=DeVita, Jr.|first1=Vincent T.|last2=DeVita-Raeburn|first2=Elizabeth|title=The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer Is Winnable--and How We Can Get There|date=2015|publisher=Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux,|location=New York|isbn=9780374536480}}<ref name="Distillations">{{cite journal|year=2016|first=Tritton |last=Thomas R.|title=Killing Cancer |url=https://www.chemheritage.org/distillations/magazine/killing-cancer|journal=Distillations|volume=2|issue=3|pages=44-45}}</ref>
* {{cite book|last1=DeVita|first1=Vincent T. Jr.|last2=DeVita-Raeburn|first2=Elizabeth|title=The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer Is Winnable--and How We Can Get There|url=https://archive.org/details/deathofcanceraft0000devi|url-access=registration|date=2015|publisher=Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux|location=New York|isbn=9780374536480}}<ref name="Distillations">{{cite journal|year=2016|first=Tritton |last=Thomas R.|title=Killing Cancer |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/killing-cancer|journal=Distillations|volume=2|issue=3|pages=44–45}}</ref>
* {{cite book|last1=Mukherjee|first1=Siddhartha|title=The emperor of all maladies : a biography of cancer|date=2011|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|isbn=978-1439170915|edition=1st Scribner}}
* {{cite book|last1=Mukherjee|first1=Siddhartha|title=The emperor of all maladies : a biography of cancer|date=2011|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|isbn=978-1439170915|edition=1st Scribner}}


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[[Category:1935 births]]
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[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American oncologists]]
[[Category:American cancer researchers]]
[[Category:George Washington University Medical School alumni]]
[[Category:George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:College of William & Mary alumni]]
[[Category:College of William & Mary alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award]]
[[Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine]]

Latest revision as of 21:10, 6 May 2024

Vincent T. DeVita
DeVita in 1999
Born
Vincent Theodore DeVita Jr.

(1935-03-07) March 7, 1935 (age 89)
SpouseMary Kay Bush
Children
RelativesPaul Raeburn (son-in-law)

Vincent Theodore DeVita Jr. (born March 7, 1935) is the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at Yale Cancer Center, and a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health. He directed the Yale Cancer Center from 1993 to 2003.[1] He has been president of the board of directors of the American Cancer Society (2012-2013).[2][3] He is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of oncology for his work on combination-chemotherapy treatments.[1][4]

The Pier Luigi Nervi International Award for Cancer Research that DeVita received in 1985

Early life and education

[edit]

Vincent DeVita was born in The Bronx, New York.[5]

DeVita attended the College of William and Mary, receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in 1957. In 1961 he earned his MD degree with distinction from the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences.[4][1]

Career

[edit]

DeVita joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 1963 as a clinical fellow, working with Emil "Tom" Frei, Emil J. Freireich and others. He returned as a senior investigator in 1966 after completing his training at Yale-New Haven Medical Center in 1965.[6][7][8] At NCI, DeVita held the following posts: Senior Investigator in the Solid Tumor Service, Head of the Solid Tumor Service, Chief of the Medicine Branch, Director of the Division of Cancer Treatment and Clinical Director of NCI (as of 1975).[6]

While at NCI, he helped to develop MOPP, a four-drug combination that was the first successful combination chemotherapy program. At the time, many oncologists believed such an approach was too toxic and would do more harm than good. MOPP was used to treat Hodgkin's disease and diffuse large cell lymphomas, reducing the likelihood of dying from Hodgkin's disease from nearly 100% to around 30%.[4] DeVita's results, presented in 1965 and 1970 were initially viewed with considerable disbelief.[7] By demonstrating that a combination-chemotherapy regimen could be successful, DeVita established the basis for further combination therapies, which became a mainstay of cancer treatment.[3][7] In addition, in collaboration with George Canellos, DeVita developed the combination chemotherapy CMF, which still remains a useful therapy for breast cancer.[9]: 165 [10]

From 1977 to 1978, DeVita was the president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).[11]

In 1980, DeVita was appointed Director of the NCI and the National Cancer Program by President Jimmy Carter,[6][12] a position he held until 1988.[13]

From January 1989 to 1993, DeVita was Physician-in-Chief and Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he was part of the program for Molecular Pharmacology.[13][14][15]

In 1993 he returned to Yale, where he became Director of Yale Cancer Center, serving from 1993 to 2003. In 2004, he was named as the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at Yale University, a position to be renamed the Vincent T. DeVita Professor of Medicine after his tenure. He is currently the chair of the Yale Cancer Center advisory board and is professor of internal medicine and of epidemiology and public health at Yale's medical school.[16]

From 2012-2013, DeVita served as president of the board of directors of the American Cancer Society.[2] DeVita currently serves on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals and has authored over 450 scientific articles. He is a co-editor of the textbook Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology, in its 10th edition,[3] and serves as the co-editor-in-chief of The Cancer Journal.[1]

He is also the co-author, with his daughter Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn, of the autobiographical book, The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer Is Winnable—and How We Can Get There.[3][17][18][15]

He was a participant in Ken Burns' 2015 PBS documentary Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies,[19] which was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Siddhartha Mukherjee.[9]

Personal life

[edit]

DeVita married Mary Kay Bush,[7] with whom he had two children, Ted and Elizabeth. DeVita diagnosed his son Ted's aplastic anemia. Ted thereafter was placed in a sterile environment for his safety and died in 1980.[18][20]

Ted's situation, and that of David Vetter, inspired the 1976 TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble starring John Travolta.[21] Elizabeth has written about the experience of losing her brother in The Empty Room.[18]

DeVita has been treated for prostate cancer.[3]

Awards

[edit]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • DeVita, Vincent T. Jr.; DeVita-Raeburn, Elizabeth (2015). The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer Is Winnable--and How We Can Get There. New York: Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374536480.[3]
  • Mukherjee, Siddhartha (2011). The emperor of all maladies : a biography of cancer (1st Scribner ed.). New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-1439170915.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., MD Honored by ASCO (press release)". Webwire. 12 June 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Dr. Vincent DeVita elected president of the voluntary board of the American Cancer Society". Yale News. November 19, 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Thomas R., Tritton (2016). "Killing Cancer". Distillations. 2 (3): 44–45.
  4. ^ a b c d "Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., MD Presented with a FREDDIE Award". Yale School of Medicine. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  5. ^ "DeVita, Vincent Theodore, Jr.". Who's Who in Frontiers of Science and Technology. Chicago, Ill.: Marquis Who's Who. 1985. ISBN 9780837957029. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "National Cancer Institute Appointment of Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., as Director. July 9, 1980". The American Presidency Project. July 9, 1980. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d Jacobs, Charlotte DeCroes (2010). Henry Kaplan and the story of Hodgkin's disease. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. pp. 185–190. ISBN 978-0804768665. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  8. ^ Groopman, Jerome (March 10, 2016). "Cancer: A Time for Skeptics". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  9. ^ a b Mukherjee, Siddhartha (2011). The emperor of all maladies : a biography of cancer (1st Scribner ed.). New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-1439170915.
  10. ^ Canellos, George P.; DeVita, Vincent T.; Gold, G. Lennard; Chabner, Bruce A.; Schein, Philip S.; Young, Robert C. (1 April 1976). "Combination Chemotherapy for Advanced Breast Cancer: Response and Effect on Survival". Annals of Internal Medicine. 84 (4): 389–92. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-84-4-389. PMID 1259283.
  11. ^ "ASCO Presidents Through the Years". ASCO Post. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  12. ^ Greenberg, Daniel S. (1980). "A Conversation with Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., M.D.". The New England Journal of Medicine. 303 (17): 1014–1016. doi:10.1056/nejm198010233031744. PMID 7412849.
  13. ^ a b C., B. J. (19 August 1988). "DeVita is Leaving Cancer Institute for Sloan-Kettering". Science. 241 (4868): 899. doi:10.1126/science.241.4868.899-a.
  14. ^ Altman, Lawrence K. (May 26, 1991). "Doctor Quits Post at Sloan-Kettering". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  15. ^ a b Piccini, Sara (Summer 2016). "Life on the Front Lines". William and Mary. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  16. ^ "Awards, Appointments, Announcements". JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 96 (6): 433. 16 March 2004. doi:10.1093/jnci/96.6.433.
  17. ^ Zugner, Abigail (November 30, 2015). "Review: Science and Politics Collide in 'The Death of Cancer'". New York Times. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  18. ^ a b c Gross, Terry (October 28, 2015). "Oncologist Discusses Advancements In Treatment And The Ongoing War On Cancer". NPR.
  19. ^ Bock, Eric (April 24, 2015). "NIH Scientists Featured in PBS Cancer Documentary". NIH Record. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  20. ^ DeVita-Raeburn, Elizabeth (2017). "Cancer Special Report 2017: Cancer Trends in Diagnosis, Stages, Treatment, and Survival Rates". Everyday Health. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  21. ^ McNees, Pat (August 2004). "The boy in the plastic bubble: Looking back at the boy looking out". Clinical Center News. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  22. ^ "1972 Lasker Awards". Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  23. ^ "Celebrating Leadership in Public Health and Medicine Friends of the National Library of Medicine (FNLM)". NIH Medline Plus. 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  24. ^ Gaudette, Renee (April 4, 2014). "Yale's Vincent DeVita named a fellow of American Association for Cancer Research Academy". Yale News. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
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