Brian MacMahon

Brian MacMahon (23 August 1923 – 5 December 2007) was a British-born American epidemiologist who chaired the Department of Epidemiology of the Harvard School of Public Health from 1958 until 1988. Best known for his work on the epidemiology of breast cancer, he also pioneered research on associations between passive smoking and lung cancer, and between diet and risk of cancer.

Personal life MacMahon was born in Sheffield, In 1948, he married Heidi Marie Graber from Switzerland (died 2001); the couple had two sons and two daughters. He died at Boston, Massachusetts in 2007, aged 84, following a stroke. After working as a locum doctor in impoverished areas of Birmingham, MacMahon served as a ship's doctor in the British Merchant Navy from 1946 to 1948. He later said that these experiences left him "somewhat dispirited about a future in clinical medicine". In 1976, he was appointed the Henry Pickering Walcott Professor of Epidemiology at the school, and he also served as the Associate Dean (1977–78). From 1974, he held a professorship in public health at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Research

Breast cancer MacMahon was unusual in focusing on the epidemiology of chronic diseases, in particular cancer, at a time when most epidemiologists concentrated on infectious diseases. His best-known research relates to breast cancer. An international study, published in 1970, on which MacMahon was the lead author showed for the first time that the age at which a woman first gives birth significantly affects her risk of later developing breast cancer; giving birth at a young age was found to be protective. Subsequent work by MacMahon's group showed that every year a woman delays giving birth after the age of eighteen increases her risk of developing breast cancer by 3.5%. The 1970 study stimulated later research into hormonal causes of breast cancer. and menopause, lactation, alcohol consumption and diet.

Other cancers With Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MacMahon pioneered research into the association of passive smoking with lung cancer.

He was also one of the first to study the effect of diet on cancer; this work was continued by his student Walter Willett. provoked a storm of protest from coffee drinkers and industry groups, with coverage in the New York Times, Time magazine and Newsweek. Academic criticism focused on the study's choice of controls.

Other diseases MacMahon worked extensively on pyloric stenosis of infants.

Awards MacMahon was awarded the National Divisional Distinguished Service Award of the American Cancer Society (1971), the John Snow Award of the American Public Health Association (1980), the Donald Reid Medal of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1987) , and the Charles S. Mott Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation for his work on the epidemiology of cancer (1992). He became a member of the Institute of Medicine in 1973, and later received honorary doctorates from the University of Birmingham, University of Athens and the State University of New York.

Key publications

Books MacMahon B, Pugh TF. Epidemiologic Methods (Little, Brown; 1960); reissued as Epidemiology: Principles and Methods (Little, Brown; 1970)

Research papers McKeown T, MacMahon B. (1955) Infantile pyloric stenosis in parent and child. Arch Dis Child 30: 497–500 MacMahon B, Cole P, Lin TM et al.. (1970) Age at first birth and breast cancer risk. Bull World Health Organ 43: 209–221 Trichopoulos D, Kalandidi A, Sparros L, MacMahon B. (1981) Lung cancer and passive smoking. Int J Cancer 27: 1–4 MacMahon B, Yen S, Trichopoulos D et al.. (1981) Coffee and cancer of the pancreas. N Engl J Med 304: 630–633 Trichopoulos D, Hsieh CC, MacMahon B et al.. (1983) Age at any birth and breast cancer risk. Int J Cancer 31: 701–704 Newcomb PA, Storer BE, Longnecker MP et al.. (1994) Lactation and a reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer. N Engl J Med 330: 81–87 (full text)