Dr. Prof. Lorenzo Idelfonso Alfonso Hernández Passes Away

August 16, 2023

On the afternoon of August 9, 2023, Dr. Professor Lorenzo Idelfonso Alfonso Hernández passed away, a pioneer of the Medical Oncology specialty in Cuba and Latin America, and Founder of the Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology.

Professor Alfonso, as colleagues and students affectionately called him, graduated in 1959 as a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Havana.

In 1960 he began working and completing his residency in Oncology at the "María Curie" Hospital (later the Oncology Hospital of Havana). Upon completion, he took a position there and in 1965 created the Clinical Chemotherapy Service, dedicated to cancer treatment with antineoplastic drugs.

A year later, he joined Professor Zoilo Marinello Vidaurreta and a group of outstanding physicians who in 1966 founded the Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology (INOR). In the late 1960s he traveled on a scholarship to France where he trained under the tutelage of the eminent professor George Mathé.

In 1974, Professor Alfonso created the Experimental Chemotherapy Service, with the objective of conducting clinical research for the evaluation of new antineoplastic drugs and new treatment protocols. This date marks the beginning of the conduct of Clinical Trials in Cuba.

Among the achievements of this service are: the introduction of high-dose chemotherapy for the treatment of malignant tumors in Cuba, the evaluation of dozens of compounds and candidate medications for cancer treatment developed in the former Eastern Europe, as well as by the Cuban pharmaceutical industry and research centers of the scientific pole. Many of them subsequently became part of the therapeutic arsenal for treating patients.

In the area of teaching, he was a mentor to generations of oncologists and especially clinical researchers focused on the design and conduct of clinical trials. His scientific output includes more than one hundred scientific articles and five books, among them, in 1969, "Cancer Chemotherapy," the first book in Spanish on cytotoxic chemotherapy for malignant neoplasms.

Upon his death, Professor Alfonso held numerous recognitions and decorations; among them stand out: the "Frank País" medals of First and Second Grade, the "Carlos J. Finlay" medal and the "José Tey" medal, all awarded by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba. Additionally, the Distinction Medal for Cuban Education granted by the Ministry of Higher Education of the Republic of Cuba, the "Fernando Ortiz" medal awarded by the Academy of Sciences of Cuba, and the "Commander Manuel Fajardo Rivero" medal, awarded by the National Health Workers Union and Ministry of Health. For his outstanding teaching and research work, he held the categories of Professor and Emeritus Researcher of the University of Medical Sciences of Havana.

It is important to note that what distinguished Professor Alfonso throughout his professional life as a professor and researcher was his humility, his simplicity and his modesty; his passion for medicine and for research; and his complete dedication to his patients. He shared selflessly and humbly all the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that he possessed with everyone around him.