Abstract IA02: The discovery of the hereditary colorectal cancer genes: A historical perspective

When I was first introduced to the concept of carcinogenesis as a medical student in 1969, the problem was conceptually a “black box”. Certain stimuli were carcinogenic, something happened to a cell, and cancer resulted. It had been noted in the beginning of the 20th Century that cancer cells had abnormal chromosomes (Boveri); it had been noted that chicken sarcomas could be transmitted by a “filterable agent” (Rous sarcoma virus); a variety of compounds could cause cancers on the skin of mice (chemical carcinogenesis), as well other physical agents (UV light, Xrays). There were other empirical observations, but there were no unifying concepts of what was inside the black box of any cancer, let alone the hereditary forms.The mechanisms of inheritance were known to be related to the nucleus, but it was not until 1953 that the structure of DNA was deduced, and actually a few years later that the number of human chromosomes was accurately determined to be 46. Concepts of inheritance were entirely descriptive. Progress was excruciatingly slow. It had been a century since the initial appreciation of dominant and recessive inheritance. However, only a few diseases with very distinctive phenotypes were clearly identified as familial, and only a few of these had any biochemical explanation. There was no obvious place to begin the search for the genetic basis of familial diseases. Worse, for the more common diseases such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension, it was thought tha...
Source: Cancer Research - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Keynote Lectures Source Type: research