title: Sidney Farber and the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia with a chemotherapeutic agent.
abstract: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy affecting children accounting for approximately 30% of childhood cancers, which was uniformly fatal before the advent of effective chemotherapy. In this historical note, the fundamental contribution of Sidney Farber to the treatment of ALL by using, for the first time, aminopterin-a chemotherapeutic agent-has been recognized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Bari Medical School, Bari, Italy. ribatti@anatomia.uniba.it
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ribatti
mesh_terms: D000630:Aminopterin / Q000266:history / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000266:history / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005493:Folic Acid Antagonists / Q000266:history / Q000627:therapeutic use; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000266:history
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D005493:Folic Acid Antagonists; D000630:Aminopterin