Obituaries

Cancerworld mourns the loss of Professor Manfred Wirth, a leading light in European urology. His remarkable contributions to the field earned him the esteemed Willy Gregoir Medal, marking him as a true pioneer. We share here the tribute from the…

The extraordinary career of Virgil Craig Jordan, Dallas/Fort Worth Living Legend Chair of Cancer Research, one of the ‘Four for the Millennium’ in women’s health, Order of the British Empire, Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and…

Europe’s public health and cancer communities have been paying tribute to John Ryan, former Deputy Director General of European Commission Health Directorate, following his untimely death at the age of 65. Ryan had only recently retired, after spending decades helping…

How do you get the greatest impact for patients from the sum total of a nation’s clinical cancer research efforts? The answer that the UK came up with at the start of the new millennium was the National Cancer Research…

Harald zur Hausen, virologist and Nobel laureate, passed away on May 28th. His great discovery, that cervical cancer is caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), opened the way for significantly reducing the risk of developing this disease – still…

Ian Magrath, lymphoma specialist and champion of cancer care in the developing world, has died in Brussels, aged 78. An exceptional cancer researcher, physician and teacher, he will be remembered for his pioneering role putting cancer care on the global…

The speed of progress in breast cancer – not just survival, but also quality of life and survivorship – has been the envy of the wider cancer community for many decades. The factors contributing to this relative success are many…

Michael B. Sporn, an internationally recognised cancer researcher who was one of the discoverers of the tumour growth factor TGF beta and a strong advocate of Cancer Prevention, died on September 29, 2022 at his home in Tunbridge, Vermont. He…

Peter Boyle, an outstanding epidemiologist who used the power of statistics to help inform and influence policy at European and global levels, died on July 23 after a long illness, at the age of 71. In an era when Europe…

20th January 1933 ‒ 28th July 2021 When Louis Denis described himself as a “free thinker”, as he often did, the statement went beyond a vague assertion of independence from dogma and lazy thinking. It was an agenda for action…