The Harvard Cancer Commission was established in 1899 through the Caroline Brewer Croft Fund for study of the etiology and treatment of cancer. Early research work done under the commission was carried out in the laboratories of the Harvard Medical School and included E. E. Tyzzer's animal experimentation on the role of heredity in cancer. Largely through the fund-raising efforts of John Collins Warren, the Collis P. Huntington Memorial Hospital was built to house additional research laboratories and clinical facilities for diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients; the hospital opened in 1912 and over the next 30 years its activities extended to include radium, then X-ray therapy, and a partly state-supported tumor diagnosis service. Additional building funds were provided by Harvard through the Proctor Fund for the Study of Chronic Diseases. The clinics and laboratories of the Huntington Hospital were transferred to the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1942. The functions of the Cancer Commission were taken over by the Harvard Medical School Commission on Special Diseases in 1947 and by the Committee on Research and Development in 1949.
From the description of Records of the Harvard Cancer Commission, 1894-1960 (inclusive), 1905-1945 (bulk). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 281435377
