Dr. Judah Folkman, a groundbreaking cancer researcher whose work cured the disease in mice and gave hope for a cure in humans, has died. He was 74.Children's Hospital Boston spokeswoman Elizabeth Andrews says Folkman died late Monday. The cause of death wasn't immediately available. Folkman was director of the vascular biology program at the hospital.

Folkman's research, which focused on cutting off the blood supply that cancer cells need to grow, cured mice of the disease.

That success could not be carried over into humans, but his discoveries prompted pharmaceutical companies to pursue research in the area. Some drugs produced as a result of that research have succeeded in extending the lives of patients with advanced cancer.