Mildred Vera Peters | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1911-04-28)April 28, 1911 Rexdale, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | October 1, 1993(1993-10-01) (aged 82) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Toronto General Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital |
Mildred Vera Peters,OC (28 April 1911 – 1 October 1993) was a Canadianoncologist and clinical investigator.
Peters received her medical degree from theUniversity of Toronto in 1934.[1] In 1950 she published a landmark paper demonstrating for the first time that many patients with earlyHodgkin's disease, then considered incurable, could be completely cured if given high-dose radiation.[2] She later went on to study the use of radiation therapy in the treatment ofbreast cancer.[3] Her research, carried out at thePrincess Margaret Hospital, demonstrated that breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy) followed by radiation was just as effective as radical mastectomy which had a significant impact on the lives of the many women who experience breast cancer.[4][5][6]
Peters' original research was met with skepticism by the medical establishment in the 1950s and she remarked in an interview that it took over 10 years for her findings to be accepted.[5]
In recognition of her medical work Peters was awarded two honorary doctorates (fromYork University in 1975 andQueen's University in 1983) and in 1979 received both a gold medal from theAmerican Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology and a Medaille Antoine Beclere.[5] In 1988 she was named a Woman of Distinction by theCanadian Breast Cancer Foundation.[5] She was appointed a Member of theOrder of Canada in 1975, raised to Officer in 1977, and was posthumously inducted into theCanadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2010.[4][7][8]