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0 ~ spokesmaa for Representative Paul Rogery (D-Fla.) who was instru- mental in teeing the cancer legislation through the House in its present form. "Usually." he said, "once a rumor of an appointment is as widespread as this now is, we begin to bear from a man's enemies. They seem to come crawling out of the woodwork. On this one, we haven't heard a thing." One of Rauscher's toughest jobs dur- ing the next few months will be to clean house at the NCI itself. Inevitably, that means he will have to get rid of some of his friends who have worked with him for years at the administrative levels of the institute. Such bloodletting won't be easy but is seen by both board members and persons close to the White House as an important test of his ability to lead well. "The NCI is full of people who are not up to running a program of this magnitude," one board member says. "The issue is whether Rauscher Is up to rooting them out." In spite of his ties to cancer virology, Rauscher is not as singlee-minded an advocate of this approach as many people assume. "I think I may surprise some of my friends in basic research: ' .he said recently, while talking about the areas he feels need new emphasis in the cancer war. He noted, as he has often in the past, that too little atten- tion Is being paid to environmental carcinogens, particularly in light of demographic data that suggest that a significant percentage of human can- cers are caused or triggered by environ- mental factors. Immunology, in his view (which he says is shared by Good), is "ripe for exploitation, but not for wide application In man." While fundamental cancer. research plows ahead, Rauscher would like to see more action in the area of cancer control, a catch-all phrase that refers to programs for early diagnosis (Pap stnears, mammography for bneast can- cer, and so forth), new techniques for early detection (identification of anti- bodies to cancer antigenr, for example), and education of both the public and thL medical community. Here. Rauscher and Baker disagree on just what cancer control means. Al- though throughout his tenure as direc- tor, Baker argued tenaciously that re- search should be geared to solving the human cancer problem, and talked about putting new tools in the hands of the physician, he balked at the idea of liberally interpreting the section of the National Canccr Act that deals with cancer control programs. The act does enjoin the NCI from spending funds for routine pt'tieat care, and Baker has contended that cancer control can be equated with patient cpre. Others strcwgly disagree. They want cancer control jprograms because they see them as a way of doing something about cancer now. "They," in this case, is a mixed group of persons that includes Rogers, who insisted that eanoer con• trol be written into the legislation, the Presidemt and his aides, the American Cancer Society, and Frank Rauscher. (Let it be said in all fairness that Rauscher consistently has wanted more programis aimed at doing what we can about cancer right away. Cancer con- trol is not something he has just dis- oovered) Cancer control was originally a POtNr oP vIsiW . Eirnction of NCL ZLe pnogra;n was dropped in 1964, and tranafertod to the Bureau of State Services. Them Is some e teluctanoe within NIH -to t3ce tt n.in- atated because of its implications to other iostitutes. • , ... Nevert2seless, cancer control is com- ing back into operation. The act puts a eeiling of $30 million on cancer eon- trol programs for 6scal 1973, raising the upper limit tm $40 million bjr 6scal 1974. (dn the appropriations tequests Baker submitted for fiscal 1973, he asks only 54 million for control.) Rauscher, however, says he Is deter- mined to get some useful cancer control programs going. By way of example, he points out that defunct pmgrnms to aereea lr,rge numbers of women for cervic9l cancer should be rejuvenated- Cancer Research: Youth and Superstars Younk btology researdiers should hasten to grub a diare oJ tIu new ntoney being poured into cancer n,manc6 and the 1Vattonal Caneer IttatUrtte (NCl), which o'rherwise wUl serve only to bolsrer still gnore tAte egoa of tlse fksrrrent superstars on the cancer scene." Tbfs ta the word set forth by James D. iYataon, proJessor of btology at Harvard and author of The Double HeliY, in a provoeative essay on, ~vtrcer research strategy pttblfshed in the New Republic (Z6 Febraary 1972). Wctson warns agotnat the ereattoa of •9ntgr establfsl»xetus wJtli all tJte power closely controlled by superstars wJw daily direct their Ph.D. ndntmsa to do this or that pta-Ncular experitnent.•' Anaread, Jre advaaates J.re-atyle irtaraidt groups in which younger arfentists shouid play a dominaea role. Walson fs a number o; the nswly created National Cancer Advisory Boanrf. Even if tbe NCI bureaucracy upon the advice of its advisory committees decides to back the formation of exciting new labs for fundamental •entmai oell biology, they are unlikely to know how to move. We must semember that until very recently most creative scientists avoided "cancer rest:arch" as if it were the plague. They smelled an imposgible task and did not want to enter an intellectual graveyard. Now there does not exist a confident body of senior canoer workers who; armed by p.=.,st sutxess have much feeling for what the fntune may bring. The scientists who probably have the best ideas as to which experiments make sense and how they should be accomplished are individuals in their late twenties or early thirties. But on the whole, they have been brought up to face a world not only where the real power is held by their eldets, but where common sense says to stick closely to the lab beneh and grind out enough real science so that tenure will come; then they can stop worrying whether they can do science. At their age it is all too easy to equate committee membership with •pnm,atur+e stuftiness and a secret desire to let one's stuc.ents and postdocs do all the n6ght work. . . . They must realize, however, that at this critical moment, there is no organir.ed or even disorganized group of wise dtdsionmakers who will map vut their science. The only predictable object above them is the bag of free money that our nation's people want well spent. It is much too big to sit unused for any period and very likely will fall upon those who ask for it 8tst. So if our better younger biologists get together and quickly ask to set up eaxible-tmd i8oitbitghori. tarian new departments (institutes) the financial wherewithal can be found.wi)Wn the NCI and eventually the universities to let such bodies tiom0~t4 en~e: But if they timorously sit back, the current superstars on the ~ get even nsore rtoncy to bolster titki* egos. 2a APwu. tott