Nobel Laureate John F. Enders, PhD, of Harvard, has found that viruses may not play a primary role in the cause of cancers, but may act as triggers of the aberrant cell growth which becomes tumors. Speaking at the closing session of the fifth National Cancer Conference in Philadelphia, Enders pointed out that there are strong indications for viral causes of cancer, but the exact mechanism is yet to be elucidated.
Enders was one of five Nobel Prize winners who spoke at the conclusion of the three-day conference which was sponsored by the American Cancer Society, Inc., and the National Cancer Institute.
George W. Beadle, PhD, president of the University of Chicago, Arthur Kornberg, MD, professor of biochemistry at Stanford University, Severo Ochoa, MD, professor of biochemistry, New York University College of Medicine, Wendell Stanley, PhD, director of the virus laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley, and Enders