Tragic story of woman who transformed medical research after her cells were unknowingly 'taken' by doctors
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images
A US woman had her cells harvested by doctors without her consent in what would go on to completely transform medical research in years to come.
In 1951, an African-American mother of five named Henrietta Lacks visited The Johns Hopkins Hospital complaining of vaginal bleeding, where gynecologist Dr Howard Jones discovered a large, malignant tumor on her cervix.
According to John Hopkins website, her medical records show she began undergoing radium treatments for her cervical cancer, as this was the best medical treatment available to help her.
However, it was after her radium rods were being removed that something happened while she was being examined - her cervical cells were taken without permission from her.
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The website claims: “A sample of her cancer cells retrieved during a biopsy were sent to Dr. George Gey's nearby tissue lab.
“For years, Dr. Gey, a prominent cancer and virus researcher, had been collecting cells from all patients - regardless of their race or socioeconomic status - who came to The Johns Hopkins Hospital with cervical cancer, but each sample quickly died in Dr. Gey’s lab.”
However, they noted that Lacks’ cells instead doubled every 20 to 24 hours, unlike any other cells the doctor had ever seen.
From there, they realised the potential Lacks’ cells could provide to the world of research, nicknaming them HeLa cells for short.
They began to use them to study the effects of 'toxins, drugs, hormones and viruses on the growth of cancer cells without experimenting on humans’, and they have even been used to test the effects of radiation and poisons.
It has been said her cells were integral to the creation of the polio vaccine, as well as advancements in HIV, cancer and infertility treatments.
But sadly, what made her cells unique is what ultimately killed her, and the mother passed away on October 4, 1951, at the age of 31.
However, her family only found out about what had happened to her and her cells decades later, and they have been fighting for justice ever since.
Johns Hopkins revealed it had ‘reviewed our interactions with Henrietta Lacks and with the Lacks family over more than 50 years', and admitted it 'could have – and should have – done more to inform and work with members of Henrietta Lacks’ family out of respect for them, their privacy and their personal interests’.
In 2023, the BBC reported that the family reached a settlement with a biotech company which used her ‘stolen cells’.
The details of the settlement against Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc have not been made public, but both sides are said to be ‘pleased’ with the outcome.
However, the outlet reported that civil rights lawyer Ben Crump claimed the procedure to remove her cells had left her in pain at the end of her life.
He said: "The exploitation of Henrietta Lacks represents the unfortunately common struggle experienced by black people throughout history," according to the lawsuit that led to Monday's settlement.
"Too often, the history of medical experimentation in the United States has been the history of medical racism."
In 2021, the World Health Organization held a ceremony to commemorate many scientific breakthroughs made possible by Lacks’ cells.
"What happened to Henrietta was wrong," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"Henrietta Lacks was exploited. She is one of many women of colour whose bodies have been misused by science," he said.
"She placed her trust in the health system so she could receive treatment. But the system took something from her without her knowledge or consent."
Recently, the hospital gathered with her family members to cut the ribbon on a building named in her honor, dubbed the Henrietta Lacks Building, a new multidisciplinary building on the Johns Hopkins East Baltimore campus.