Women’s History, Women’s Power: How Dr. Janet Rowley Unlocked Cancer’s Genetic Code
Cancer is caused by problems in our genes that allow unregulated cell growth and division. Today, this is a given within the medical community. But it wasn’t always this way.
Enter the late Dr. Janet Rowley (1925-2013). Picture a woman with wispy grey hair and a gentle smile, riding her red bicycle to her lab at the University of Chicago. Despite her unassuming appearance, this woman is a titan in the field of cancer research. She has been called the “matriarch of modern cancer genetics” by The New York Times (Dreifus, 2011) and colleagues have said she developed the “Rosetta Stone” to treating leukemias. During Women’s History Month, we honor the legacy of female pioneers in cancer research like Dr. Rowley who, through persistence, humility, and tedious dedication, reshaped our understanding of cancer and in so doing saved countless lives.
A Remarkable Discovery
That’s because Rowley discovered just how cancer happens on a genetic level. In 1972, she identified the first “translocation,” in cancer patients. A translocation is when two chromosomes (the x-like structures that store our DNA) swap parts of their DNA. This swap creates the conditions for cancer growth. Rowley found translocation occurred in patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), as well as the rarer acute promyelocytic leukemia.
This discovery, that genetic changes cause cancer, was revolutionary. It allowed scientists to create more effective treatments like Gleevec (imatinib) for CML. Before its development, CML patients typically died within five years of diagnosis. Since Gleevec’s introduction, 90% of patients are considered cured. “These once-dying [CML] patients were getting out of bed, dancing, going hiking, doing yoga,” said Dr. Brian J. Druker, oncologist and director of the Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute. “The drug was amazing,”(Dreifus, 2009).
Gleevec is a type of targeted therapy, a cornerstone of modern cancer treatment. Rowley’s discovery laid the foundation for targeted therapy, which interrupts the process that turns healthy cells into cancer cells. Unlike chemotherapy, which damages healthy cells as well as cancer cells, targeted therapy is more precise. It kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones intact.
Overcoming Challenges
As a woman scientist, Rowley faced numerous challenges, starting with medical school. Although she was accepted to the University of Chicago in 1944, the school had already reached its quota of three women out of a class of 65. So she waited patiently for the next admissions cycle.
After graduating in 1948, she married a classmate and soon became a mother. “With young children at home, I would only work part time,” she said in a 2011 interview with The New York Times (Dreifus). She developed an interest in studying chromosomes, and approached the University of Chicago in the early 1960s for some lab space. “All I need is a microscope and a darkroom,” she had said. “And by the way, will you pay me? I must earn enough for a baby sitter.” She got the lab space and a salary of $5,000 per year.
As it turned out, the lab space was under a hematologist. This directed Rowley’s attention to leukemia patients, and she set to work hunting for the cause of cancer under her microscope. However, technology for studying genetic material in the 1960s was very rudimentary. “There weren’t the right tools yet to stain it, cut it apart, examine and manipulate it,” she said (Dreifus, 2011). Eventually, a more sophisticated technology that made it easier to see differences in chromosomes came along. It required the use of a fluorescent microscope, which she used “on nights and weekends to study things I was working on.” In 1972, ten years after she started studying chromosomal changes in leukemia patients, she made her revolutionary discovery about translocation.
At first, though, her colleagues did not embrace her ideas. “I got sort of amused tolerance at the beginning,” she said (University of Chicago, 2013). But eventually, the recognition came pouring in. Just some of her many honors include the Lasker Award; the National Medal of Science (1998), the nation’s highest scientific honor; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009), the highest civilian honor in the United States.
Rowley’s Legacy
Rowley has been praised for many qualities, including perseverance, mentorship, and independent thinking. But her best-known attribute may have been her humility. Regarding her groundbreaking discovery, she said “looking down a microscope at banded chromosomes is not rocket science. If I hadn’t found it, somebody else would,” (Dreifus, 2011).
At a time when medicine was heavily male-dominated, Rowley politely upturned the status quo. And she did it all while raising a family. Like many other women pioneers in science and medicine, her contribution to the field of cancer research has been colossal.
Women’s History Month is an opportunity to pay tribute not only to Rowley’s groundbreaking contribution to the field of cancer genetics, but to recognize what she symbolized for women in science. At a time when medicine was heavily male-dominated, Rowley politely upturned the status quo. And she did it all while raising a family. Like many other women pioneers who were first told no on the basis of gender, her scientific contributions have been colossal. Her legacy continues to inspire researchers and physicians in the fight against cancer.
Rowley died in 2013 at the age of 88, from complications of ovarian cancer.
Casey Hicks, RN, BSN, is a freelance nurse writer.