Pelayo Correa, MD, FAACR, a longtime AACR member and Fellow of the AACR Academy whose work defining the histological stages of the development of gastric cancer fundamentally advanced our understanding of the pathology, epidemiology, and prevention of the disease, died November 20, 2025, at the age of 98.
Beginning in 1975, Correa proposed a model of gastric carcinogenesis in humans in which disease progressed in several identifiable stages. Later, he linked it to Helicobacter pylori infection in many cases. The model and its stages, known as Correa’s cascade, are frequently referenced in describing the disease.
Born in Sonson, Colombia, in 1927, Correa received his medical degree from the University of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia, in 1949 and completed an internship there. He completed a residency in pathology at Emory University School of Medicine and Grady Hospital in Atlanta in 1954. He then served as chair of pathology and associate dean at the University of Valle School of Medicine in Cali, Colombia.
Correa was a visiting scientist at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, from 1970 to 1973, and professor of pathology at Louisiana State University from 1974 to 2005. He moved to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and served there until his retirement in 2015.
Correa became an AACR member in 1980. He was the founding editor-in-chief of the AACR journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention from 1991 to 1997. He received the AACR-American Cancer Society Award for Research Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention in 1992. He also received the AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Memorial Lectureship in 2012 and the American Gastroenterological Association Distinguished Achievement Award in 2013. In 2025, he was elected as a Fellow of the AACR Academy.
He founded the Cancer Registry in Cali, Colombia, the first population-based registry in Latin America, and helped develop the SEER Louisiana Tumor Registry in New Orleans. He also served as president of the International Association of Cancer Registries from 1979 to1983 and as president of the Association of Latin American Pathologists from 1980-1981.
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