how long did the treatment make henrietta lacks

Who honors Henrietta Lacks, woman whose cells served science?

WHO Honors Henrietta Lacks, Baltimore Woman Whose Cells Served Sciencehe HeLa cell line — a name derived from the first two letters of Henrietta Lacks’ first and last names — was a ...

What cancer did Henrietta Lacks have?

Who Is Henrietta Lacks? Henrietta Lacks was born in 1920 in Virginia and died of cervical cancer in 1951. Cells taken from her body without her knowledge were used to form the HeLa cell line, which has been used extensively in medical research since that time.

How did Henrietta Lacks get cancer?

How did Henrietta Lacks get cancer? Lacks was the unwitting source of these cells from a tumor biopsied during treatment for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., in 1951. After Lacks had given birth to their fifth child, she was diagnosed with cancer. Click to see full answer.

Are Henrietta Lacks cells still being used?

Though the collection and use of Henrietta Lacks’ cells in research was an acceptable and legal practice in the 1950s, such a practice would not happen today without the patient’s consent. We are deeply committed to the ongoing efforts at our institutions and elsewhere to honor the contributions of Henrietta Lacks and to ensure the ...

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When did Henrietta Lacks start treatment?

On August 8, 1951, Lacks, who was 31 years old, went to Johns Hopkins for a routine treatment session and asked to be admitted due to continued severe abdominal pain. She received blood transfusions and remained at the hospital until her death on October 4, 1951.

How did the doctors treat Henrietta Lacks?

Lacks, in the public “colored wards” of the world-renowned hospital, got the standard treatment for invasive cervical cancer at the time. Doctors stitched tubes and pouches filled with radium inside her cervix, sewing them and packing them in place.

Was Henrietta Lacks provided appropriate treatment?

As medical records show, Mrs. Lacks began undergoing radium treatments for her cervical cancer. This was the best medical treatment available at the time for this terrible disease.

How did Henrietta respond to her cancer and treatment?

After being diagnosed with cancer, Henrietta started receiving radiation to kill the cancer cells, which unfortunately killed many healthy cells as well. Several weeks into her treatment, she discovered she was infertile. Her doctors did not tell her that radiation would result in infertility.

How much are HeLa cells worth?

Today, Skloot says, a vial of HeLa cells can be purchased online for about $250 a vial.

Did George Gey meet Henrietta?

There is no record of George Gey visiting Henrietta in the hospital or tell her about her cells. One of his colleagues claims that Gey visited Henrietta and told her that her cells would save lives.

Did George Gey profit from HeLa cells?

Gey never made a profit from these “HeLa” cells – named after Henrietta Lacks – but did distribute them to other scientists. Since then, the HeLa cells have been grown in countless laboratories across the globe and have now lived for twice as long outside Lacks's body as they did inside it.

Can Henrietta Lacks live forever?

When cervical cancer killed Henrietta Lacks in 1951, no one guessed she would achieve a strange kind of immortality. Yet today, nearly half a century later, the cancer cells that killed Lacks live on in laboratories around the world--long after most human tissue would have reached old age and stopped reproducing.

Are HeLa cells still used?

The immortality of HeLa cells contributed to their adoption across the world as the human cell line of choice for biomedical research. Though additional cells lines have been developed over the years, HeLa cells continue to be widely used to advance biomedical research and medicine.

How was cancer treated in the 1960s?

Damaging surgery and relatively unsophisticated radiotherapy were the main treatments, assuming the disease was detected in time for anything to be done. Today's diagnostic tests, keyhole surgery, highly targeted radiotherapy and arsenal of cancer drugs were far beyond the imagination of the doctors at that time.

How was cancer treated in the 1950s?

Prior to the 1950s, most cancers were treated with surgery and radiation. During the period 1949–1955, the only marketed drugs for the treatment of cancer were mechlorethamine (NSC 762), ethinyl estradiol (NSC 71423), triethylenemelamine (9706), mercaptopurine (NSC 755), methotrexate (NSC 740), and busulfan (NSC 750).

How did Henrietta Lacks die?

Henrietta Lacks was born in 1920 in Virginia and died of cervical cancer in 1951. Cells taken from her body without her knowledge were used to form the HeLa cell line, which has been used extensively in medical research since that time. Lacks' case has sparked legal and ethical debates over the rights of an individual to his or her genetic material ...

When did Henrietta Lacks get a documentary?

The case gained new visibility in 1998, when the BBC screened an award-winning documentary on Lacks and HeLa. Rebecca Skloot later wrote a popular book on the subject, called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks .

What is the Johns Hopkins statement?

In February 2010, Johns Hopkins released the following statement concerning the cervical samples that were taken from Lacks without her consent: "Johns Hopkins Medicine sincerely acknowledges the contribution to advances in biomedical research made possible by Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells.

What cell line did Henrietta Lacks use?

Cells taken from Henrietta Lacks's body without her knowledge were used to form the HeLa cell line, which has been used extensively in medical research.

What was the HeLa strain used for?

The HeLa strain revolutionized medical research. Jonas Salk used the HeLa strain to develop the polio vaccine, sparking mass interest in the cells. As demand grew, scientists cloned the cells in 1955. Since that time, over ten thousand patents involving HeLa cells have been registered.

What is the Hela case?

The HeLa case has raised questions about the legality of using genetic materials without permission. Neither Lacks nor her family granted permission to harvest her cells, which were then cloned and sold.

What did Gey discover about HeLa?

Gey noticed an unusual quality in the cells. Unlike most cells, which survived only a few days, Lacks's cells were far more durable. Gey isolated and multiplied a specific cell, creating a cell line. He dubbed the resulting sample HeLa, derived from the name Henrietta Lacks.

How long did Henrietta stay in the hospital?

After two days in the hospital, the radium plaques that had been affixed to her cervix were removed, and she was sent home with instructions to return in two and a half weeks for a second treatment.

Who wrote the short form summary of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks?

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform summary of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. Shortform has the world's best summaries of books you should be reading.

How many books does Rina read?

Her penchant for always having a book nearby has never faded, though her reading tastes have since evolved. Rina reads around 100 books every year, with a fairly even split between fiction and non-fiction. Her favorite genres are memoirs, public health, and locked room mysteries. As an attorney, Rina can’t help analyzing and deconstructing arguments in any book she reads.

Who is Henrietta Lacks?

For other uses, see Lack (disambiguation). Henrietta Lacks (born Loretta Pleasant; August 1, 1920 – October 4, 1951) was an African-American woman whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized human cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research. An immortalized cell line reproduces ...

Who was the lab assistant for Henrietta Lacks?

After Lacks's death, Gey had Mary Kubicek, his lab assistant, take further HeLa samples while Henrietta's body was at Johns Hopkins' autopsy facility. The roller-tube technique was the method used to culture the cells obtained from the samples that Kubicek collected.

What is the Henrietta Lacks Memorial Lecture Series?

In 2010, the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research established the annual Henrietta Lacks Memorial Lecture Series to honor Henrietta Lacks and the global impact of HeLa cells on medicine and research.

Why did the Lacks family ask for blood samples?

Alarmed and confused, several family members began questioning why they were receiving so many telephone calls requesting blood samples. In 1975, the family also learned through a chance dinner-party conversation that material originating in Henrietta Lacks was continuing to be used for medical research. The family had never discussed Henrietta's illness and death among themselves in the intervening years but with the increased curiosity about their mother and her genetics, they now began to ask questions.

When was the HeLa genome sequence published?

In March 2013, researchers published the DNA sequence of the genome of a strain of HeLa cells. The Lacks family discovered this when the author Rebecca Skloot informed them. There were objections from the Lacks family about the genetic information that was available for public access. Jeri Lacks Whye, a grandchild of Henrietta Lacks, said to The New York Times, "the biggest concern was privacy—what information was actually going to be out there about our grandmother, and what information they can obtain from her sequencing that will tell them about her children and grandchildren and going down the line." That same year another group working on a different HeLa cell line's genome under National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding submitted it for publication. In August 2013, an agreement was announced between the family and the NIH that gave the family some control over access to the cells' DNA sequence found in the two studies along with a promise of acknowledgement in scientific papers. In addition, two family members will join the six-member committee which will regulate access to the sequence data. In 2021 Lacks’ estate sued Thermo Fisher Scientific for past and ongoing unauthorized sales of Lacks’ HeLa cell line.

How did Lacks' cells become immortal?

Lacks's cells were the first to be observed that could be divided multiple times without dying, which is why they became known as "immortal". After Lacks's death, Gey had Mary Kubicek, his lab assistant, take further HeLa samples while Henrietta's body was at Johns Hopkins' autopsy facility. The roller-tube technique was the method used to culture the cells obtained from the samples that Kubicek collected. Gey was able to start a cell line from Lacks's sample by isolating one specific cell and repeatedly dividing it, meaning that the same cell could then be used for conducting many experiments. They became known as HeLa cells, because Gey's standard method for labeling samples was to use the first two letters of the patient's first and last names.

What episode of Law and Order is the story of Jello Biafra?

NBC's Law & Order aired its own fictionalized version of Lacks's story in the 2010 episode "Immortal", which Slate referred to as "shockingly close to the true story" and the musical groups Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine and Yeasayer both released songs about Henrietta Lacks and her legacy.

What was Henrietta Lacks treated for?

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks sought treatment at The Johns Hopkins Hospital for cervical cancer. Extra samples of her cells were collected during a biopsy, a common practice at Johns Hopkins at that time regardless of a patient’s race or socioeconomic status. Although Lacks, a mother of five, died, her cells were used to begin ...

Where was the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks screened?

Darren Brownlee was one of over 2,000 Johns Hopkins faculty, staff and students who attended one of the pre-screenings of the highly anticipated HBO film, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, in Turner Auditorium and on the Homewood campus. “The movie is a ‘must-see’ story, leaving me with a core of emotion and appreciation ...

Why were HeLa cells used?

The cells—named HeLa after the first two letters in her first and last name—have been used to support advances in many fields of medical research, including development of the polio vaccine.

Is Johns Hopkins a bioethicist?

Johns Hopkins, and researchers and bioethicists worldwide, have learned a great deal from the examination of important bioethical issues, and Johns Hopkins is committed to ensuring the appropriate protection and care of medical information related to Lacks and her family. The medical research community has also made significant strides in improving ...

Why didn't Henrietta go to the doctor?

One of the relatives believed Henrietta didn’t go because she was afraid the doctor would remove her womb and prevent her from having more children. Shortly after Henrietta confided in her relatives, she became pregnant, and talk about the knot faded.

Who wrote the short form summary of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks?

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform summary of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. Shortform has the world's best summaries of books you should be reading.

What did Henrietta find in her underwear?

Four and a half months after Joseph was born, however, Henrietta discovered blood in her underwear. She ran a hot bath and performed a self-examination on her cervix. She found a lump next to the opening of her womb.

How many books does Rina read?

Her penchant for always having a book nearby has never faded, though her reading tastes have since evolved. Rina reads around 100 books every year, with a fairly even split between fiction and non-fiction. Her favorite genres are memoirs, public health, and locked room mysteries. As an attorney, Rina can’t help analyzing and deconstructing arguments in any book she reads.

Did Howard Jones find a lump in Joseph?

Jones quickly located the lump, whose color and consistency was unlike any other lesion he’d seen (he described it in his notes as “grape Jello”) Even though Joseph had been delivered at Hopkins scant months before , no one had noted any sort of cervical abnormality, either upon delivery or at Henrietta’s six-week checkup. Which meant the lump had grown exponentially in just three months.

Did Henrietta's cancer come back?

She returned to the hospital twice, first with abdominal discomfort, then with an ache along her sides, but the doctors sent her home each time, writing in her record that there was no evidence that her cancer had come back.

How long did Henrietta's family not know she was immortal?

Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than 25 years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using specimens from her husband and children without informed consent. Her family also did not see any profits from the multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials.

What are Henrietta cells used for?

Scientists worldwide have used Henrietta’s cells for research in cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and countless other scientific pursuits. HeLa cells have been used to test human sensitivity to tape, glue, cosmetics, and many other products. There are almost 11,000 patents involving HeLa cells.

What did Gey discover about HeLa cells?

Gey “discovered that [Henrietta’s] cells did something they had never seen before: They could be kept alive and grow.” (p. 94) Cells obtained previously from other sources would survive for only a few days. Some cells in Lacks’ tissue sample behaved differently than others. Gey was able to isolate one specific cell, multiply it and start the HeLa cell line. As the first human cells that could be grown in a lab and were “immortal” (did not die after a few cell divisions), they could then be used for many experiments. This represented an enormous boon to medical and biological research. It is estimated that total weight of all the HeLa cells ever grown exceeds 50 million metric tons.

Why were HeLa cells important?

The HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine and uncovering secrets of cancer, viruses and radiation effects. These cells led to improvements in in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping. Demand for the HeLa cells quickly grew. A special unit was established in Tuskegee Institute, Tuskeegee, Alabama, where African-American scientists helped grow the HeLa cells and also evaluated Dr. Jonas Salks’s polio vaccine. “Black scientists and technicians, many of them women, used cells from a black woman to help save the lives of millions of Americans, most of them white. And they did so on the same campus—and at the very same time—that state officials were conducting the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study.” (p. 97)

When was penicillin first used for syphilis?

In 1932, 600 African-Americans, 399 with syphilis and 201 without, were enrolled in a study to investigate the natural course of syphilis. In 1947 penicillin was discovered as the drug of choice for syphilis, but the study patients were denied it. This federal government-sponsored study was projected to last six months, however, it continued for 40 years and was only stopped in 1972 after public outcry. After a $10 million settlement, President Clinton in 1997 apologized on behalf of the nation.

How did Henrietta Lacks die?

Henrietta Lacks was an African-American tobacco farmer who died from cervical cancer in 1951, aged 31. She was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland, one of the only hospitals at the time that treated Black patients from poor communities.

What is Henrietta Lacks's history?

Henrietta Lacks and the history of health racism. Cells are the building blocks of life. Each living thing on Earth is made of cells, and the human cell has been at the centre of all medical research. But although every scientist remembers receiving their first flask of cells, there’s little acknowledgement that those tiny organisms we work ...

Why did Henrietta Lacks ask for blood samples?

HeLa cells were so good at surviving outside the body that they had started to contaminate other samples and appear in experiments they weren’t meant to. Scientists asked the Lacks family for blood samples, so that they could more easily identify them. The Lacks were never told why they were repeatedly asked to give blood: they only discovered the importance of Henrietta’s cells in medical research through a chance conversation in 1973, 22 years after her death.

Why was Henrietta Lacks singled out?

Henrietta wasn’t singled out because of her skin colour, but the social circumstances that led to her samples being taken make it very hard to imagine this happening to a white person.

What could Henrietta's cells see?

They could watch cells divide and see how particular viruses behaved. They could also conduct experiments that would have been unethical or harmful to conduct on a human body: for example, to see how certain molecules cause cancer. Henrietta’s cells have been responsible for some of the most important medical advances in human history. ...

Who discovered that Henrietta's cells thrived outside the body?

During the treatment, doctors took two cell samples, which were sent to the hospital’s research labs. One researcher, George Gey, discovered that Henrietta’s cells thrived outside the body and in the lab, probably explaining the aggressive nature of the disease that had killed her. Gey developed these cells into a line nicknamed HeLa cells, which have been used in biomedical research around the world for decades.

Can Henrietta's cells be used for medical purposes?

Worse, the medical treatments that have been developed using Henrietta’s cells are only available to those who can afford medical insurance in the US. Families like the Lacks were exactly the sort of demographic who couldn’t access them. This isn’t a past problem: in the US, African American people are twice as likely to lose their insurance in one year, and 8% more likely to live without insurance, when compared to white Americans.

What was Henrietta Lacks' diagnosis?

The 30-year-old African-American's 1951 diagnosis of cervical cancer would change her life, and the damaged cells taken from her body without permission would alter the course of medical history. At a time when health-care reform is a key concern for the White House and millions of Americans, Lacks's story is a potent reminder of the injustices that were perpetrated by the health-care industry on the poor and uneducated not long ago.

Who was Henrietta Lacks?

Raised by her grandfather on a tobacco farm in Virginia, Henrietta Lacks was the granddaughter of slaves. She gave birth to her first child at 14 and later married the father of the baby, who happened to be her first cousin—not uncommon at the time. Shortly after Henrietta turned 30, she felt a knot in her lower stomach that she knew meant something was wrong. But with a husband and a house full of kids to take care of, Lacks could ill afford to worry for long; her family also had little money for a doctor's visit, and at the time, many hospitals offered African-American patients substandard treatment.

What is the importance of Lacks' story?

At a time when health-care reform is a key concern for the White House and millions of Americans, Lacks's story is a potent reminder of the injustices that were perpetrated by the health-care industry on the poor and uneducated not long ago.

When did the Tuskegee syphilis study begin?

It might seem as though this kind of disturbing and unethical practice would be limited to another, less-enlightened time, such as the '30s and '40s, which is when the granddaddy of all medical injustices, the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study, began. But some evidence uncovered by Washington's book suggests that black orphan children were used as test subjects as recently as the '80s in New York: tests to determine the effectiveness of some AIDS treatments were given to the children without adult consent.

Where did Lacks send his cell culture?

He sent the cells to Texas, India, New York, Amsterdam —anywhere researchers might find them useful.

When were black orphans used as test subjects?

But some evidence uncovered by Washington's book suggests that black orphan children were used as test subjects as recently as the '80s in New York: tests to determine the effectiveness of some AIDS treatments were given to the children without adult consent.

Did Henrietta Lacks' descendants get free health care?

In a just world, Henrietta Lacks's descendants would have health care given to them free for the rest of their lives, like the victims of the Tuskegee study. But instead her case stands as yet another example of the medical establishment's mistreatment of poor and minority Americans, the aftereffects of which linger to this day.

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Biography

Medical and scientific research

Recognition

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