What’s on : Lectures

Infections and cancer – a brief history

Lectures
Date
15 Mar 2010
Start time
7:30 PM
Venue
The Hospitium
Speaker
Dr Rob Newton
Infections and cancer - a brief history

Event Information

The Tempest Anderson Lecture

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.

Report
by Ken Hutson
Infections and cancer : a brief history Dr Rob Newton, Hull-York Medical School. The Tempest Anderson lecture
The facts are that cancer is second only to cardiovascular disease as a world killer; it is caused mainly by tobacco, infections and ultra violet radiation. Some causes are environmental, but genetic links are rare. Cancer itself is not an infection, but infections cause about 20% of all cancers.
Research into the link with infections dates back to the late 19th century with a study of the spread of malaria in Uganda. Dr Newton detailed the epic search for the cause of Burkitt’s lymphoma, and subsequent discoveries, including the link with viruses. We now know that Epstein-Barr virus interacts with malaria to produce Burkitts. Today, there are proven viral causes of leukaemia and liver, cervical and stomach cancers. Importantly, we can produce vaccines to protect against viruses.
Dr Newton underlined the suspicion that there are many more undiscovered infectious causes of cancer, and emphasised the urgent need for further continuing simple, systematic research. The search is on.