Fernand Labrie

Brief Biography

Professor Fernand Labrie was born in Laurierville, Quebec, in 1937. He graduated in 1957 with a BA (magna cum laude) from the Petit Séminaire de Québec and received his MD (magna cum lauda) in 1962 from Laval University followed by a PhD. (summa cum lauda) in endocrinology in 1966 from the same university. Between 1966 and 1969, he pursued postdoctoral studies at Cambridge and Sussex universities in England, and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in 1973. He joined the faculty of medicine of Laval University in 1966 as Assistant Professor to become Associate Professor in 1969 and full Professor in 1974. He has founded the Molecular Endocrinology Research Laboratory at Laval University in 1969, and has been serving from 1972 to 2009 as Head of the Department of Molecular Endocrinology at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université Laval (CHUL) and full time physician in the Department of Medicine from 1972 to 2010. From 1983 to 2009, he has been the Research Director of the CHUL Research Center where about 150 senior investigators, 450 graduate students and 600 members of research personnel were working under his leadership with a budget reaching over $ 60 million in 2009. He has also been Head of the Department of Physiology and Anatomy at the Laval University Faculty of Medicine from 1990 to 2002, President of the FRSQ (Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec) from 1992 to 1995 and President of the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (1978-1979) and of the Canadian Society of Clinical Investigation (1992-1996).

 

Professor Labrie is one of the most accomplished scholars in the international scientific community. He has published more than 1250 scientific articles with a total of over 50 000 citations, which makes him the most cited Canadian scientist of all disciplines by other scientists in the world. Professor Labrie’s first major contribution to clinical medicine has been in the field of prostate cancer by the design and clinical development of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists for the treatment of the disease. This ground-breaking treatment strategy, generally referred to as "reversible chemical castration", has replaced the surgical removal of the testes (orchiectomy) and the use of high doses of female hormones (estrogens), which had so-far been the standard treatments for prostate cancer. With GnRH agonists, both the psychological disadvantages of orchiectomy and the cardiovascular complications of high estrogen doses have been eliminated and the quality of life of prostate cancer patients is dramatically improved.

 

Another medically important contribution of Professor Labrie has been the development and clinical application of combined androgen blockade (CAB)[1] which can induce a cure or very long term control of localized prostate cancer. In addition, Professor Labrie performed the first randomized study on the use of prostate-specific antigen as a pre-screening test that permits, along with other tests, to diagnose prostate cancer at an early and curable stage. In short, Professor Labrie and his team have brought a successful paradigm of prostate cancer treatment which is now helping hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide.

 

A discovery having a major and general impact for the prevention and treatment of all sex steroid-sensitive diseases is intracrinology and the understanding of its crucial role in breast and prostate cancer as well as in menopause. In fact, while approximately 50 % of androgens in men are made in peripheral tissues from the precursor dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) of adrenal origin, all estrogens and androgens present in women after menopause are made in peripheral tissues from DHEA by the mechanisms of intracrinology. Most importantly, before the work of Professor Labrie on intracrinology, the lack of estrogens was believed to be the cause of the problems related to hormone deficiency after menopause, thus explaining why estrogens have been exclusively used as replacement therapy after menopause with their now well recognized side effects. Working on intracrinology, Professor Labrie has discovered that the lack of DHEA activity and not the lack of estrogens, is responsible for all the menopausal symptoms related to hormone deficiency after menopause. Accordingly, under his leadership, EndoCeutics is presently running the final clinical trials before commercialization of DHEA (VAGINORM) for the treatment of vaginal atrophy and sexual dysfunction as the first two indications using replacement therapy with DHEA. It is likely that a similar approach will be developed for treatment of the other problems caused by hormone deficiency in postmenopausal women.

 

Professor Labrie’s outstanding contributions to endocrinology and oncology have been recognized by many awards and distinctions. In 1979, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1981, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, being cited as "one of the leading authorities in contemporary endocrinological research". In 1991, he was made Officer of the National Order or Quebec and, in 1999, he was awarded the prestigious Walton-Killam Memorial Prize of the Canada Council for Arts. He is also the recipient of the Medal of the Collège de France (1982). In 2007, he has received the King Faisal International Award in Medicine for his work on prostate cancer. In 2011, he was awarded the Henry Friesen Award of the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation/Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Professor Labrie has been a member of around 70 professional associations and has been invited to deliver more than 500 lectureships worldwide. He has also served as a member, associate member or corresponding member of the editorial boards of a long series of leading scientific journals.

 

Professor Labrie’s rich biography not only reflects his extraordinary capabilities as a researcher, educator, administrator and physician but also gives some insight into his personal hobbies, chief among which are alpine and water skiing. He has been the President of the Quebec Ski Federation (1982-1987) and of the Quebec Water Ski Association (1982-1987) as well as Chairman of the Committee of Quebec City for the Winter Olympic Games of 2010.