Henry Kaplan and the Story of Hodgkin's Disease

458 Pages·2010·3.15 MB·English

by  Charlotte Jacobs

Henry Kaplan and tHe
Story of HodgKin’S diSeaSe

Hen ry K a pl a n
and the Story of
HodgKin’S diSeaSe
Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs
Stanford general BooKS
An Imprint of Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
This book has been published with the assistance of the
Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson Professorship.
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2010 by Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of
Stanford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jacobs, Charlotte DeCroes.
Henry Kaplan and the story of Hodgkin’s disease / Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8047-6866-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Kaplan, Henry S., 1918–1984. 2. Radiologists—United States—Biography.
3. Oncologists—United States—Biography. 4. Hodgkin’s disease—
Radiotherapy—United States—History. 5. Cancer—Treatment—United
States—History. I. Title.
r154.k235j33 2010
362.196'994460092—dc22
[b]
2009040649
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper.
Typeset at Stanford University Press in 10/13 Minion.
FOR EHUD

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue 1
1 Morbid Appearances 11
 Arrogant Ancestors 0
 Diagnosing Hodgkin’s Disease 
4 Growing Up Brilliant 8
 Roentgen’s Rays 4
 A Spartan Existence 49
 The Courtship of Leah Lebeson 8
8 Headway with Hodgkin’s Disease 
9 The Fledgling Investigator 1
10 The Unlikely Aftermath of Mustard Gas 80
11 The Stanford Wooing 8
1 The Outsider 9
1 Vera Peters: Daring to Cure Hodgkin’s Disease 10
14 The Cancer-Killing Cannon 111
1 Moving to the Farm 1
1 Saul Rosenberg: A Promising Young Oncologist 1
1 The L-1 Protocol: Christine Pendleton and
Douglas Eads 14
18 The L- Protocol: Petra Ekstrand and 11
Joey Radicchi
19 International Cooperation 19
0 A Famous Father 18
Contents
1 The Single-Minded Focus of Vince DeVita 19
 A Walking Textbook of Radiation Morbidity 191
 Living Autopsies 19
4 Protégés 0
 Intellectual Playmates 11
 Peace Now! 
 Mary Lasker’s Moon Shot for Cancer 8
8 A Cancer-Causing Virus 8
9 The Ann Arbor Conference 48
0 Bookends 
1 The Cancer Center Debacle 1
 Deadly Complications 4
 High-Dose DeVita 80
4 The S- Protocol: Chris Jenkins 84
 Inconsolable 94
 Without a Spleen 99
 Kaplan’s Moby Dick 08
8 The Elusive Human Tumor Virus 14
9 The Quiet Conviction 
40 The Boy in the Bubble 4
41 The C-1 Protocol: Wendy Podwalny 4
4 The Quest for the Magic Bullet 4
4 The Death of a Difficult Woman 1
44 Felled 
4 Dying Adagio 8
Epilogue 9
Source Notes 99
Bibliography 41
Index 41
Photographs follow pages 130 and 338.
viii
acknowledgments
How fortunate I have been to study writing for over a decade with a master—
Ehud Havazelet. He taught me the craft of and instilled into me a passion for
writing, which has enriched my life. It is to him that I dedicate this book.
I am grateful to the late Leah Kaplan, who agreed to a biography of her
husband, but only if I would portray the man as he was, not a saint. She spent
hours with me, relating his life with honesty and humor. She opened her home,
her personal files, and her heart. Paul Kaplan recounted family stories with
candor and the exquisite detail of an artist. Ann Kaplan Spears, Richard Kap-
lan, and the rest of the Kaplan family provided thoughtful reminiscences.
When I sought my first literary agent, I started at the top, writing to Robert
Lescher. Mickey Choate, formerly at Lescher & Lescher, Ltd., initially embraced
my work and brought it to Robert’s attention. To my amazement and delight,
Robert Lescher accepted my biography with an enthusiasm that has never
waned. I will be forever grateful for his wisdom, confidence, and friendship.
The late Dr. Ben Shenson and Dr. A. Jess Shenson gave me one of the greatest
gifts—that of academic freedom—when they endowed the Stanford University
professorship I am privileged to hold. I appreciate how Ronald Levy, chief of
Medical Oncology, never questioned the project’s time or value. The Vermont
Studio Center and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts provided the soli-
tude and creative atmosphere for writing. John Feneron, Norris Pope, and the
publishing team at Stanford University Press guided the book to its comple-
tion. Peter Dreyer, the copy editor, smoothed the rough edges and taught me
how to use the delete button.
My thanks to all those who spent hours sharing their memories of Henry
Kaplan. Each story, each letter gave me insight into this multifaceted man. I am
especially appreciative of Vincent DeVita, Saul Rosenberg, Norman Coleman,
and the late Vera Peters, for whom many of these memories were bittersweet.
Spyros Andreopoulos kindly gave me a copy of his interview with Kaplan just
prior to his death. My thanks to Todd Wasserman, who interviewed Sir David
ix