Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Event Information

Infections and Cancer
Dr Robert Newton, University of York

It is estimated that 20% of human cancers (about two million cases per year, worldwide) are attributable to viral, bacterial and helminth (a parasitic worm) infections. Collectively, infectious agents are the most important known cause of cancer after tobacco. With the exception of a rare sexually transmitted cancer of dogs and a newly discovered tumour affecting the face and mouth of Tasmanian Devils, cancer is not itself contagious, although the underlying cause may be. Transmissible agents have a venerable part in the history of cancer research. In 1911, Peyton Rous, often considered to be the father of tumour virology, was the first to demonstrate the transmission of a cancer between chickens (the term “virus” had not yet been coined). The research community was not receptive to the notion that a chronic disease may have an infectious cause and it was not until 1964 that the first human tumour virus was isolated. Since then, many new infections have been identified and their control or elimination (by vaccination for example) holds great promise for cancer prevention. I will briefly describe some key discoveries and outline current methods for reducing the burden of cancer caused by infections.