Fernand Labrie

Fernand Labrie (born June 28, 1937 in Québec - † January 17, 2019 ) was a Canadian medic , known for examinations of prostate cancer and in endocrinology .

Labrie received his bachelor's degree from the Séminaire de Québec in 1957 and received his medical doctorate in 1962 and his PhD in 1966 at Laval University . He was then a post-doctoral student at Cambridge (with Asher Korner and Frederick Sanger ) and the University of Sussex . At the same time he was from 1966 Assistant Professor, from 1969 Associate Professor and from 1974 Professor at Laval University. In 1969 he became head of the Laboratory for Molecular Endocrinology he founded and from 1990 to 2002 he headed the anatomy and physiology department of the university. Since 1982 he has been Research Director at Laval University Medical Center (CHUL). In 1973 he founded the Molecular Endocrinology Research Group of the Medical Research Council of Canada.

Labrie has authored and co-authored over 1200 research papers. He initiated the treatment of prostate cancer with gonadoliberin (GnRH) agonists (GnRH is also abbreviated to LHRH). This opened up new treatment options (gentler than castration, which was often practiced previously, or high levels of estrogen). He improved the treatment of Prostratakrebs further characterized in that in addition to chemical castration by GnRH analogues the androgen formation is blocked in the prostate (administration of anti-androgens in combined androgen blockade). In the early 1980s, he carried out an extensive screening study, which showed that his therapy had good therapeutic prospects with early detection of localized prostate cancer.

Labrie also researched the conversion steps of the precursor hormone of the human sex hormone DHEA , which Labrie found to a large extent in peripheral tissues instead of in the special endocrine glands (a field of research he called intracrinology ).

In the field of antiestrogens, for example in breast cancer therapy, he and his group developed Acolbifene.

In 1981 he became an officer in the Order of Canada and in 1991 an officer in the National Order of Quebec . He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada . He was an honorary doctor in Athens and Caen . He received the Isaak Walton - Killam Prize and in 2006 the Armand Frappier Award from Quebec. In 2007 he received the König Faisal Prize for Medicine.

Web links

• Biography on the website dedicated to him