Cancer pioneer still raring to go at 80
Melbourne cancer pioneer Professor Donald Metcalf has just turned 80 but he celebrated with a short scone break before continuing work, “I am just getting the hang of this now. Why stop?”
Professor Metcalf’s cancer research discoveries which include a method of boosting the immune system of chemotherapy patients, have reportedly saved the lives of over seven million people including leading Spanish tenor Jose Carreras.
From the time he began research at the Walter and Eliza Hall institute in 1964 Professor Metcalf had sought to find a cure for leukemia, despite his director at the time saying that “death from cancer is inevitable – there is no cure for it”.
Using an original research technique involving buckets of urine from the staff toilets Professor Metcalf discovered the CFS hormones which, when given to cancer patients, stimulated and increased their white blood cell count.
The first time it was used on a patient “they just came down the corridor and said it’s working”, he told the Herald Sun newspaper.
Now Professor Metcalf, who has received numerous awards for his outstanding work ranging from the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science in Australia to the Royal Medal of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, still turns up for work at seven am for a 12 hour day, and is looking at a way to multiply blood stem cells.
“I think the rest of the world is looking at the wrong cell. I am looking at some cultures and I hope they will tell me the rest of the world is wrong”.
