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Antiviral mechanisms in the control of neoplasia
392
Journal of Immunological Methods, 32 (1980) 392--393
© Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press Book review
Antiviral Mechanisms in the Control of Neoplasia, edited by P. Chandra. Plenum Press, New York, 1979 (757 pp., illus.) U.S. $ 69.00. This book is based on a conference sponsored by the Scientific Division of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the National Cancer Institute (U.S.A.), held in March 1978 on Corfu Island in Greece with the participation of 75 geneticists, virologists, biochemists, pathologists, and immunologists from 15 countries. As explained in the editor's preface, the aim of the conference was to compare and discuss, in an international and interdisciplinary milieu, the techniques and findings related to the established or suspected viral etiology of certain malignant g~'owths in experimental animals and in man, and the outlook for their possible control. The text consists of 53 papers grouped in 6 sections. Section I contains a review and analysis of observations on neoplastic transformations induced by viral genomes in various mammalian and non-mammalian cells. Presentations in Section II deal with the role of oncornaviruses in rodent leukemias and the possible viral etiology of childhood leukemia as evidenced by isolating type C oncoviruses from co-cultures of human leukemic bone marrow with animal indicator cells and detecting therein virus-related antigens by immunofluorescence. Other reports describe evidence for the possible viral involvement in such human neoplasms as chronic myelogenous leukemia, plasma cell tumors and granulocytic sarcoma; there is also an account of screening normal human sera, by radioimmunoprecipitation assay, for antibodies against C-type t u m o r virus antigens. Section III is almost entirely devoted to studies on three human herpes viruses: herpes simplex, cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus. Although the first two are ubiquitous and known to cause fairly frequent and persistent infections in man, the present evidence for their possible oncogenicity is limited to the demonstration of their capacity to induce neoplastic transformations in isolated cultured cells. On the other hand, epidemiological evidence implicates EBV as the causative agent in two h u m a n tumors -- Burkitt's l y m p h o m a and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Papers in Section IV discuss different aspects of i m m u n i t y to virusinduced tumors, from the non-specific active i m m u n o t h e r a p y of spontaneous rat tumors and the role of cytotoxic antibodies in protection against the growth of p o l y o m a virus-induced tumors in mice, to the specific serum therapy of murine adenocarcinoma. Topics of Section V range from the pharmaceutical industry's methods of testing cytotoxic compounds as potential anticancer drugs to the inhibition of oncornavirus activities by polynucleotide analogues. Papers in Section VI deal with the antitumor effects of interferons in experimental animals, the large-scale production and
393 purification of the human fibroblast interferon, and the clinical uses of the latter in the prophylaxis of acute viral infections, in the therapy of chronic hepatitis, and in preliminary trials on patients with malignant melanoma and breast carcinoma. The text is accompanied by references, tables, numerous illustrations, and a subject index. It remains to be seen, to what extent the impressive information contained in this volume can contribute to improving the t r e a t m e n t and control of cancer.
Journal of Immunological Methods, 32 (1980) 392--393
© Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press Book review
Antiviral Mechanisms in the Control of Neoplasia, edited by P. Chandra. Plenum Press, New York, 1979 (757 pp., illus.) U.S. $ 69.00. This book is based on a conference sponsored by the Scientific Division of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the National Cancer Institute (U.S.A.), held in March 1978 on Corfu Island in Greece with the participation of 75 geneticists, virologists, biochemists, pathologists, and immunologists from 15 countries. As explained in the editor's preface, the aim of the conference was to compare and discuss, in an international and interdisciplinary milieu, the techniques and findings related to the established or suspected viral etiology of certain malignant g~'owths in experimental animals and in man, and the outlook for their possible control. The text consists of 53 papers grouped in 6 sections. Section I contains a review and analysis of observations on neoplastic transformations induced by viral genomes in various mammalian and non-mammalian cells. Presentations in Section II deal with the role of oncornaviruses in rodent leukemias and the possible viral etiology of childhood leukemia as evidenced by isolating type C oncoviruses from co-cultures of human leukemic bone marrow with animal indicator cells and detecting therein virus-related antigens by immunofluorescence. Other reports describe evidence for the possible viral involvement in such human neoplasms as chronic myelogenous leukemia, plasma cell tumors and granulocytic sarcoma; there is also an account of screening normal human sera, by radioimmunoprecipitation assay, for antibodies against C-type t u m o r virus antigens. Section III is almost entirely devoted to studies on three human herpes viruses: herpes simplex, cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus. Although the first two are ubiquitous and known to cause fairly frequent and persistent infections in man, the present evidence for their possible oncogenicity is limited to the demonstration of their capacity to induce neoplastic transformations in isolated cultured cells. On the other hand, epidemiological evidence implicates EBV as the causative agent in two h u m a n tumors -- Burkitt's l y m p h o m a and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Papers in Section IV discuss different aspects of i m m u n i t y to virusinduced tumors, from the non-specific active i m m u n o t h e r a p y of spontaneous rat tumors and the role of cytotoxic antibodies in protection against the growth of p o l y o m a virus-induced tumors in mice, to the specific serum therapy of murine adenocarcinoma. Topics of Section V range from the pharmaceutical industry's methods of testing cytotoxic compounds as potential anticancer drugs to the inhibition of oncornavirus activities by polynucleotide analogues. Papers in Section VI deal with the antitumor effects of interferons in experimental animals, the large-scale production and
393 purification of the human fibroblast interferon, and the clinical uses of the latter in the prophylaxis of acute viral infections, in the therapy of chronic hepatitis, and in preliminary trials on patients with malignant melanoma and breast carcinoma. The text is accompanied by references, tables, numerous illustrations, and a subject index. It remains to be seen, to what extent the impressive information contained in this volume can contribute to improving the t r e a t m e n t and control of cancer.