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Editorial
. 2017 Dec;4(1):15.
doi: 10.1186/s40658-017-0182-7. Epub 2017 Apr 27.

Saul Hertz, MD, and the birth of radionuclide therapy

Frederic H Fahey  1   2 , Frederick D Grant  3   4   5 , James H Thrall  3   6
Affiliations
Editorial

Saul Hertz, MD, and the birth of radionuclide therapy

Frederic H Fahey et al. EJNMMI Phys. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

The year, 2016, marked the 75th anniversary of Dr. Saul Hertz first using radioiodine to treat a patient with thyroid disease. In November of 1936, a luncheon was held of the faculty of Harvard Medical School where Karl Compton, PhD, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was invited to give a presentation entitled "What Physics Can Do for Biology and Medicine." Saul Hertz who attended the luncheon spontaneously asked the very pertinent question that perhaps changed the course of treatment of thyroid disease, "Could iodine be made radioactive artificially?" We review the events leading up to the asking of this question, the preclinical investigations by Dr. Hertz and his colleague Arthur Roberts prior to the treatment of the first patient and what occurred in the years following this landmark event. This commentary seeks to set the record straight to the sequence of events leading to the first radioiodine therapy, so that those involved can be recognized with due credit.

Keywords: History; Radioiodine therapy; Saul Hertz.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Letter from Karl Compton, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to Dr. Saul Hertz dated December 15, 1936. In the letter, Dr. Compton clearly indicates that the question regarding whether iodine could be made radioactive had been asked by Dr. Hertz. b Response from Dr. Hertz to Dr. Compton dated December 23, 1936. In this response, Dr. Hertz notes that radioactive iodine “will be a useful method of therapy in cases of the overactive thyroid gland”
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Arthur Roberts (left) and Saul Hertz (right) performing biokinetic studies of radioiodine in rabbits. The results of these studies were published in 1938 [5]
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Reproductions of pages from Dr. Hertz’s laboratory notebook showing the result of his first 29 patients. Table 1 (Fig. 3 a) lists 9 patients that were "not cured" and subsequently received surgery including ED, the first patient treated with radioiodine for thyroid disease in 1941.  Table 2 (Fig. 3 b) lists 20 patients that were cured and required no further treatment
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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