" Szilard Endorsed Nuclear Medicine by Example "

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@aecl.ca>]

FYI, an interesting letter published in the current issue of Physics
Today....

http://www.physicstoday.org/pt/vol-54/iss-2/p82b.html
> Szilard Endorsed Nuclear Medicine by Example
> The excellent review of radionuclide therapy by Bert M. Coursey and
> Ravinder Nath (Physics Today, April 2000, page 25) reminded me of a story
> I heard while conferring with the late Jonas Salk on his controversial
> idea of using an HIV vaccine to treat AIDS. 
> 
> Leo Szilard, who is best known for obtaining an early patent on the
> fission bomb (as a method of "producing new elements"), was diagnosed with
> bladder cancer. Standard treatment consisted of surgery to debulk the
> tumor along with the in situ use of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), a
> tuberculosis vaccine, to stimulate the immune system. Apparently, Szilard
> declined this treatment and instead accepted radiation therapy. The way I
> heard it, Szilard consulted with Salk, celebrated for developing the first
> polio vaccine, and Szilard subsequently had a radioactive sliver implanted
> in his bladder. The procedure apparently helped cure his cancer. 
> 
> I have no way of knowing how much of this story is accurate. But it would
> be interesting if the inventor of the atomic bomb had made a personal
> choice that served to encourage the medical use of radioactive isotopes.
> More recently, the term "nuclear magnetic resonance" had to be changed to
> "magnetic resonance imaging" because the public tends to think of anything
> "nuclear" as inherently dangerous. At least Szilard would have had a
> better perspective on what is and isn't dangerous. 
> 
> Allen D. Allen 
> (allen@cytodyn.com) 
> CytoDyn of New Mexico 
> Studio City, California 
> © 2001 American Institute of Physics
> 
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