Oncidium is an orchid genus including about 330 species with highly colored flowers, originating from Central and South America and now easily available as ornamental plants.
Orchids are plants that have reached the highest level of evolution in the plant kingdom, with original features such as highly specialized pollination systems and symbiotic relationship with fungi.
As ornamental plants, orchids are also long lasting flowering plants, with a high diversity in forms and colors. They are notorious for being difficult to grow. However once light and temperature equilibrium conditions are found they are not particularly demanding plants, neither in water, nor in nutrients.
An easy parallel can be made with radiotherapeutics which are drugs that have reached the highest level of development in the drug manufacturing world. Those molecules require the same high level of medical knowledge as for conventional drugs, rely on the specific handling environment of human originating biological material, but on top of this must comply with the constraints of radioactive molecule manufacturing. Specialized centers have been combining these three areas of expertise for years and can in a routine way provide to patients these sophisticated drugs that are efficient to treat or even cure cancers.
The genus Oncidium was first described by Olof Swartz in 1800, deriving its name from the Greek word “onkos”, meaning “swelling” or “tumor”. This word refers to the callus at the lower lip of the flower. Such an indirect reference to cancer (oncology) combined with a Latin termination identical to those of the radionuclides used in radiotherapeutics (Lutetium, Yttrium, Rhenium, …) made this name ideal for symbolizing the Foundation for the Development of Radiotherapeutics, the Oncidium Foundation.
