Friedewald William (1 results)

J. exp. Med., 80. New York, The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, 1944, 8°, VI, 586 pp., 81 Fig., 29 Taf., Leinenband der Zeit; St.a.Tit. Francis Peyton Rous (1879-1979) was involved in the discovery of the role of viruses in the transmission of certain types of cancer. In 1966 he was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work. In this report co-authored by William F. Friedewald, Rous proposed a two-stage mechanism of carcinogenesis, or the causilng of cancer, called initiation and promotion. He further explained that a virus can be induced by carcinogens or it can hasten the growth and transform benign tumors into cancerous ones. For tumors having no apparent trace of virus, Rous cautiously postulated that these "spontaneous" growths might contain a virus that persists in a "masked" or latent state, causing no harm until its cellular environment is disturbed. Rous eventually ceased his research on this project due to the technical complexities involved with pursuing the interaction of viral and environmental factors. He then analyzed different types of cells and their nature in an attempt to understand why tumors go from bad to worse.