We stand today on the threshold of a new understanding of cancer. Primarily through the powerful tools of molecular biology, unified hypotheses explaining the origins of the disease are emerging and rapidly being validated. This volume, which presents the latest findings from laboratories throughout the world on the role of RNA tumor viruses in cancer, is a celebration of these achievements and a prediction of further progress leading ultimately to the control of the disease. It is important in this context to recall the natural history or life cycle of RNA cancer virology. From the earliest days of the science, when viruses were first recognized as distinct biologic agents of etiologic significance, their role in cancer was proposed and hotly debated. The critical early discoveries, even those made as recently as 25 years ago, were met with rejection; not skepticism or cautious restraint, but outright rejection. During the 60's, there was a gradual acceptance of the association between viruses and cancer, the result of landmark studies in experimental systems, and this led to a frenzy of activity in the field. There followed another period of doubt and uncertainty, due to the difficulty in attempting to apply directly, and in retrospect inappropriately, the tenets of infectious disease to human cancers, only to have the field resurrected, revitalized and redirected by the explosion of progress in molecular biology and genetics.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Molecular Genetics of the RNA Tumor Viruses. - 1. Myc, a Genetic Element that is Shared by a Cellular Gene (proto-myc) and by Viruses with One (MC29) or Two (MH2) onc Genes. - 2. Viral and Cellular fos Gene. - 3. P21 ras Transforming Protein: Significance of the Carboxy Terminus. - 4. Protein Phosphorylation of Tyrosine in Normal and Transformed Cells. - 5. Activation of a Gene Coding for a Normal Human Growth Factor to One with Transforming Properties. - 6. Cell Cycle Control of c-myc Expression. - Endogenous Retrovirus Sequences in Human Cells. - 7. A New Class of Human Endogenous Retroviral Genes. - 8. Structure and Function of Human Endogenous Type C Retroviral DNAS. - 9. ERV3, A Full-Length Human Endogenous Provirus: Sequence Analysis and Evolutionary Relationships. - Molecular Biology of Human Cancers. - 10. Molecular Basis of Human B Cell Neoplasia. - 11. Stage Specific Transforming Genes in Lymphoid Neoplasms. - 12. Oncogenes Involved in Chronic Myelocytic Leukemia. - 13. Monoclonal Antibodies Generated to a Synthetic Peptide Define ras Gene Expression at the Single Cell Level in Human Colon and Mammary Carcinomas. - 14. Which Cancers are Caused by Activated proto-onc Genes? . - HTLV/LAV, T-Cell Leukemia and AIDS. - 15. The Family of Human T-Cell Leukemia Viruses and Their Role in the Cause of T-Cell Leukemia and AIDS. - 16. A Novel Human Lymphotropic Retrovirus (LAV): New Data on its Biology and Role in AIDS. - 17. Biology of Human T Cell Leukemia Viruses in Immunosuppression and AIDS. - 18. Human Retrovirus in Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). - 19. Human RNA and DNA Oncogenic Viruses and Their Importance in Transmissible and Malignant Diseases. - 20. Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus (HTLV) Antibodies in Mycosis Fungoides and Leukemias and Lymphomas. - 21. Immunologic Functions and the Pathogenesis of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). - Experimental Model Systems for the Study of Human Neoplasia and Related Diseases. - 22. Experimental Studies of the Pathogenesis of Feline Leukemia Virus Infection. - 23. Feline Leukemia and Sarcoma Viruses. - 24. Bovine Leukemia Virus: Past, Present and Future. - 25. A New Messenger RNA Expressed by Bovine Leukemia Virus Infected Cells. - 26. Primate Retroviruses and AIDS. - 27. Molecular Comparisons of the D-Type Retroviruses. - 28. Woodchuck Hepatitis Virus and Hepatitis B Virus as Related to Known RNA and DNA Tumor Viruses and Hepatocellular Carcinoma. - 29. Establishment of Virus-Negative Cell Lines Derived from Radiation- or Chemically-Induced T-Cell Lymphomas in NFS/N Mice, and Generation of Oncogenic Virus from These Cell Lines Following Infection of A Non-Oncogenic Ecotropic Virus. - Perspectives. - 30. Perspectives and Prospects of Molecular Biology in the Control of Human Malignancies. - 31. Implications for the Control of Human Cancer.
