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The paper on viruses and cancer was vi'dely reported. j 0 Y7 6`-7 q SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN May 1962 IHuman Cold, Animal Cancer virus that causes upper respiratory infection in man can produce can. cer in h imsters. So reported John J. '1lrentm, Yoshiro Yabe and Grant Taylor of' the BayJbr University College of Medicine at'the meeting,of the American Association for Cancer Research in At- lantic City, N.J., last month. Like many other investigators, the Baylor workers have beemtrying; so far unsuccessfully, to isolate specific humani tumor-viruses from patients with cancer. A standard technique in this research iss to inject'exta•acts that may contain such viruses intoianimals susceptible to virus- induced tumors. The Baylor group oup de- cided to try injecting instead some known human vinrs. The idea was suggested b,v the fact that certain animal viruses have been found to cause both acute infections and, as a later effect, cancer. \lrnreovery these viruses cannot aliways be recovered from the tumors that they produce. As an experimental' animal Trentin and his colleagues chose the Syrian ham- ster, which is susceptible to cancer vi ivses from other species of animals. As experimental viruses they selected the group known as adenoviruses because of a generall resemblance to some animal tumor viruses. Nine different types of adenovirus were inoculitted intb the lungs of newborn hamsters. Eight hadl no effectl However, the ninth, adeno- virus Type 12, produced malignant thoracic tumors in 41 of -15'anomals wit~- i'rn three months. Tvpe 12 is one of the rarer of the 28' related viruses isolated to date from the adenoids„tonsils or throats of patients with upper respiratoryy infections or his- tories of recent infection. Mlueh furt'her . research, Trentin emphasized, will be required to determine whether or not it plays any part' in human cancer. NEW YORK HERA3D TRIBUNE NeW Yorlk, New York April •].j+, 19'a2 Common Variety . rnses,• ~rnses, Cancer, .V~ .• _ Linked Anew By Earl'~ Ubell Dr. Daran.-Reynals Jbelieved Setence Editor oDmmon viruses aonld: under : ATJLANTIC CTTY. ~~ht conditions, be cancer- causing. He labored mightila to The audience of' virus and prove his c+ontentlon until he cancer experts asked one died a few years aBOI searching question after, an- In Texas, Dr. J. J. Trentin, other of' the team of scientists YoshirD Yabe and Cirant Tay- from Houston. Tex. In the end ior went to work on the same their discovery stood firm: For the first time they had un- masked' the. cancer-causing proclivities of'a common human virus-one that could cause a sore throat or a pink eye. This virus, called adenovints-12; probably has infected one per- in human beings they' come son in four. . "" from the nose and' throat So far, the three acientists (adeno: throat). Scientists at have shot their virus only into the National Institutes of the lungs . of hamsters where, Health had! eighteen strains of within a few naonths, large; adenovlrus alive and under lethal cancers grew. They lack' study. The Houston group took proof' this "sore-throat'' virus nine and iajected them into touches off cancer in humar4 hayn ~„ Only A-12 produced beings. n the cancers. However, A-12ts bad behavior But the Cancer Associat'ion's. -displayed to the openin8 ses- super-expert audience did not sions of the American Associa- buy the results so ~ quickly.; tion for Cancer Research- Cpuld the hamster cancerss draws tighter the strslags on the come from contaminating vi- virus theory of cancer. This ~m already k~~,to produce. theory holds that viruses. tiny cancer? Two, such viruses can bundles of chemicals, can Infect do sio • polyoma and SV-40. tLssue; causin8 it to grow wildlv polyoma virus prbduces can- into cancer. virWses of different cer in mice, and hamsters, but species can cause different a quick chemical check ruled diseases, like polim, measles and' it out. 8V-40 was more of' a .yell.ow lever. problem. This vdxvs comes from, While many scientists have monkeys and seems to be wide- found viruses to provoke ma11g- spread ii4 flasks containing nant growths in mice, rats, growing ` monkey cells or tis- hamsters, rabbits and other' sues. One of, the scary things creatures, none has unequivo- about this vsrus is that it has cally identi'hed a human virus been found in live and killed' that does so. The Houston sci- poiio vaceine; which is groAVn, entYsts have taken a big step on monkey tissue. After a series' towarcl that goal: They have a of teste, however, the Houston virus capable of' iniecting human beings and whichi in group convinced themselves ~ hamsters, aan cause cancer. and most of the experts thatt their, virns was not SV-40. O The three men from Baylor ~ht ~~~me other un- ~ UniveTSity 14tedical' School and known cOntaminant from the. M. D: Anderson Hospital dis- monkey cells in which the A-1'2 UT covered A-13's cancerous bent had once been grown? They did W by following up, aa old idea of not thitnk so because human %I the late Dr. Franciseo Duran- blood' serum from, persons who ~ Reynals, of, Yale. one of the have the, tell4ale signs of an earliest proponents of theviru.,- A-12 iiifection will knock out ~ .cancer concept. _ _ the cancerous propert'ies of A-12. If' there were a monkey ` contamiuant, there would be littl iblem with, modera tools of'f dling viruses. They set out' check syst'ematieallythe own viruses with a cancer- ng ability. They started on a group own as adenoviruses because e reason for the human Wum to have this effect. :