Infections Causing Human Cancer

Number of page: 531
Author: Harald zur Hausen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 3527609296
Rating:
Category: Medical

Infections must be thought as one of the most important, if not the most important, risk factors for cancer development in humans. Approximately 15-20% of all cases of cancer around the world are caused by viruses. The establishment of a causal relationship between the presence of specific infective agents and certain types of human cancer represents a key step in the development of novel therapeutic and preventive strategies.
In this book, Professor zur Hausen (Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine 2008) provides a thorough and comprehensive overview on carcinogenic infective agents -- viruses, bacteria, parasites and protozoons -- as well as their corresponding transforming capacities and mechanisms. The result is an invaluable and instructive reference for all oncologists, microbiologists and molecular biologists working in the area of infections and cancer.
The author was among the first scientists to reveal the cervical cancer-inducing mechanisms of human papilloma viruses and isolated HPV16 and HPV18, and, as early as 1976, published the hypothesis that wart viruses play a role in the development of this type of cancer.

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About The Author

Harald zur Hausen studied medicine at the Universities of Bonn, Hamburg and Düsseldorf, gaining his MD in 1960. He was a research fellow at the University of Düsseldorf and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, before being appointed assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. He joined the University of Würzburg one year later, initially as a senior scientist and then as a private lecturer. From 1972 to 1977 he was Professor of Virology at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, and then at the University of Freiburg until 1983. Thereafter, he was appointed Scientific Director of the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg until his retirement in 2003. Professor zur Hausen has been a member of various research organizations, academies of science, and scientific boards. He was President of OECI, Vice-Chairman of the German American Academic Council and Vice-President of the Helmholtz Society of German National Research Centers. Among others, he received the Robert Koch Award, the Charles S. Mott Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Award, the German Cancer Award, the Prince Mahidol Award of Thailand, the Federal Order of Merit and the American Association of Cancer Research's Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as six honorary degrees in six different countries.
Harald zur Hausen is on the editorial board of several scientific journals and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Cancer, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International Union Against Cancer. Professor zur Hausen has organized or co-organized a number of international meetings. Together with Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Professor Luc Montagnier, he has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008. He was recognized "for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer."