See also: Special Issue of Photochemistry and Photobiology dedicated to the memory of Dr. Thomas J. Dougherty
Thomas Dougherty, PhD, the developer of modern photodynamic therapy (PDT) and Chief Emeritus of Roswell Park’s Photodynamic Therapy Center, died Tuesday, October 2. “He was undoubtedly the major influence in bringing PDT into the realm of cancer therapy,” said David Kessel, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.
In 1970, Dougherty left a lucrative job with the DuPont chemical company to join Roswell Park’s Department of Experimental Biology as a research associate. Here he developed PDT, a cancer treatment that combines laser light with a nontoxic, light-sensitive drug. The process kills cancer cells directly and also shuts down blood vessels in the margin around the tumor, reducing the chance that cancer cells left behind will be able to grow. Studies indicate that it also stimulates the immune system to track down and kill cancer cells throughout the body.
Although PDT was first discovered more than a century ago in Germany, until Dougherty’s breakthrough, researchers had failed to find ways of using light-sensitive compounds to treat disease. Dougherty successfully treated cancer with PDT in preclinical models for the first time in 1975. Three years later, he conducted the first controlled clinical study in humans.
In 1994, the FDA approved PDT with the photosensitizer Photofrin® for palliative treatment of advanced esophageal cancer. Today it is also FDA-approved for the treatment of specific types of lung cancer and Barrett’s esophagus, a condition that can lead to esophageal adenocarcinoma. Roswell Park now offers PDT using next-generation photosensitizers and provides off-label treatment of gynecologic malignancies, head & neck cancer and dysplasia, and certain skin cancers.
After selling his company, Photofrin Medical, Inc., to Johnson & Johnson in 1984, Dougherty used the proceeds to establish The Oncologic Foundation of Buffalo, which initially funded PDT research at Roswell Park. “Tom’s foundation gave me my first grant, which allowed me to begin to investigate the role of PDT in anti-tumor immunity,” recalls Sandra Gollnick, PhD, now Director of Roswell Park’s Photodynamic Therapy Center. “He was a great man, a visionary and a good friend.”
The foundation later expanded its mission to support initiatives at Canisius College, the American Brain Tumor Association, and Hauptman Woodward Medical Research Institute. It also funded a program that taught University at Buffalo medical students “how to deal honestly and compassionately with terminally ill patients,” in Dougherty’s own words.
A graduate of Canisius College, Dr. Dougherty earned a PhD in chemistry from The Ohio State University. He was the recipient of numerous accolades and awards for his work, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society for Photobiology. He was the author or co-author of more than 200 publications and held more than 50 patents.
Nancy Oleinick, PhD, Professor Emerita of Radiation Oncology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, remembered Dougherty as “a superb scientist, a gentleman, a visionary and a cheerleader for PDT.” Added David Kessel, “Tom certainly left the world a much better place for his being part of it. He was one of the ‘good guys’ of whom there can never be enough.”
A remembrance service for Dr. Dougherty is being planned at Roswell Park. Information about this service will be shared when it is available.