Dr. William I. Wolff

Dr. William Wolff died on August 20 at his home Manhattan.  He was 94.

In the mid 1960′s Dr. Wolff, working with his colleague Dr. Hiromi Shinya at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, began studying how fiber optics and a long, soft, flexible tube might make it possible to see inside the entire length of the colon.  Together they developed  the first colonoscope.

In 1969, Dr. Shinya invented a wire snare and electrocautery making it possible for the team to remove polyps during a colonoscopy.

By 1973, Dr. Wolff and Dr. Shinya had performed over 2,000 colonoscopies in the Endoscopy Unit at Beth Israel, demonstrating that in skilled hands they could be done safely.  Their use of a wire loop snare and electrocautery made it possible to remove most polyps during the colonoscopy itself and avoid risky abdominal surgery.

Last year more than 1.6 million colonoscopies were done in the United States, preventing tens of thousands of future colon cancers.

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Eartha Kitt at the Cafe Carlyle (Photo from the NY Times)

Eartha Kitt died on December 25, 2008 of colon cancer.  She was 81.

Her cancer was diagnosed and treated two years ago.  After a period of remission, it recurred leading to her death today. Read the rest of this entry »

Leroy Sievers, who built a community of support and caring with his blog My Cancer, died Friday, August 16, 2008 at his home in Maryland. He was 53.  His wife, Laurie Singer survives him.

First diagnosed with colon cancer in 2001, he found out four years later that it had spread to his brain and his lungs.  Pushing his doctors for the worst-case scenario, they told him six months.  Shortly afterwards he aired the first of a series of commentaries on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Read the rest of this entry »