Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa Cells

Her family and scientists are probably the only ones that know the name of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman. She’s done so much for cancer and other research. Mrs. Lacks died at the age of 31 in 1951 at the research hospital segregated ward, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore,Maryland. Henrietta Lacks is more famous in death than she was in life. According to Johns HopkinsMagazine April 2000 edition, Henrietta Lacks was an African-American whose only travel was from a tobacco growing community in Virginia to a segregated communityin Baltimore, Maryland. Mrs. Lacks lived in Baltimore with her husband, and gave birth to five children.

In February 1951 Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The tumor was large and rapidly growing. Henrietta returned to Johns Hopkins for radium treatment to kill the tumor, but not before a resident took another sample from the tumor. The tumor bleed easily when touch meaning it had a good blood supply. Because of the tumor’s qualities, the sample went to Dr. George Gey, head of tissue culture research at Hopkins. Dr. Gey and his wife, Margaret a nurse, were cancer researchers. They searched for human cell samples that would live ad infinitum outside the human body. If they could find such cells and grow them in a lab, they could continue research until a cure was found. In 1951, human cells lasted a few days outside the body before dying. Richard TeLinde, then Hopkins chairman of Gynecology was also looking for human cells to research acure for cervical cancer.

Mrs. Henrietta Lacks’ did more for medicine and research in1951 and beyond than any other person. Henrietta’s cancer cells multiplied like nothing ever seen before. What was better was that the cells lived. What was not good for Henrietta was that the cells lived and grew in her body also. The cancer spread to almost every organ in her body between February and October 1951. What was considered unethical behavior by Dr. Gey was his appearance on TV with a vial of Henrietta's cells, which he called HeLa cells – He from Henrietta and La from Lacks. Neither the patient nor the family was informed of what was happening to Mrs. Lacks’ cells.

An African-American woman, Mrs. Henrietta Lacks is buried in an unmarked grave across from the tobacco fields and behind her mother’s old house in Virginia. Henrietta traveled back from Baltimore. That’s the only travel she did in life. Her cancer cells have been multiplied and traveled all around the world as HeLa. All these years later the cells are still  alive. Researchers are shocked with their strength. They reproduce a new generation every 24 hours.

Dr.Geyand his contemporaries used Mrs. Lacks’ cells to grow the polio virus. She made it possible to grow the virus so the vaccine could be developed. Jonas Salk in Pittsburgh created a polio vaccine, and the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis established facilities for mass-producing the HeLa cells. Henrietta’s cells have traveled around the world and into space since 1951. The cells are massed produced and are the norm for use in labs and research.

Researcher Walter Nelson-Rees had great concern for the containment of HeLa. It’s use all over the world and rapid growth rate can cause the cells to get out of control. He stated that the HeLa had infiltrated the world's stock of cell cultures.Lack of proper handling had allowed the cells to be airborne, carried on hands,and pipettes causing cross contamination.

No signed consent from Mrs. Lacks or her family can be produced allowing research to be done on her cells. HeLa cells are massed produced for commercial use, but none of the profits have reached the Lacks’ family. Cell lines that originate with humans have been somewhat controversial in bioethics, as they may outlive their parent organism and later be used in the discovery of lucrative medical treatments. In the pioneering decision in this area, the Supreme Court of California held in Moore v. Regents of the University of California that human patients have no property rights in cell lines derived from organs removed with their consent.

Henrietta Lacks started a medical revolution but few people know of her experience or even where she’s buried.  In the Johns Hopkins article, there was a question as to whether the family had health insurance. So the family didn’t even get medical care out of Henrietta’s contribution. The article acknowledges that it was 1974 when the family got information by accident of how Mrs. Lacks’ cells were being used, that the family called Johns Hopkins.  The family had blood and tissue samples taken by the medical staff, but never heard from the hospital again.  The Lacks were tired calling.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa
2. Jones, H. W., Jr., V. A. McKusick, et al. (1971). George Otto Gey (1899-1970). The HeLa cell and a reappraisal of its origin. Obstet Gynecol 38(6): 945-949.
3. Modern Times: The Way of All Flesh; (1997) BBC documentary on Henrietta Lacks, directed by Adam Curtis
4. Rebecca Skloot, Cells That Save Lives are a Mother's Legacy, New York Times
5. Russell Brown and James H M Henderson, 1983, The Mass Production and Distribution of HeLa Cells at Tuskegee Institute, 1953-1955. J Hist Med allied Sci 38(4):415-43
6. Smith, Van (April 17, 2002). "The Life, Death, and Life After Death of Henrietta Lacks, Unwitting Heroine of Modern Medical Science.". Baltimore City Paper. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 
7. Warren Y. Lewis, and George O. Gey. Johns Hopkins Med J 136(3): 142-149.