News : German Medicine Nobel laureate in Kolkata for symposium on cervical cancer

Germany & South Asia: German Medicine Nobel laureate in Kolkata for symposium on cervical cancer

German Medicine Nobel laureate in Kolkata for symposium on cervical cancer

December 02, 2009

Medicine Nobel laureate Professor Harald zur Hausen visits Kolkata from 2nd – 4th December to attend the Cancer Foundation of India (CFI) symposium on cervical cancer and its control in India. German virologist, professor emeritus and the former scientific director of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Prof. zur Hausen was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2008 for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in India amongst women. It is estimated that 132,000 new cases and 74,000 deaths occur each year due to cervical cancer in India. In developing countries, it is the leading cause of cancer deaths amongst women. Professor zur Hausen’s research on infectious agents in human cancers and his discovery of the human papilloma virus (HPV) as the cause for cervical cancer has major implications for public health.
Speaking to the German Information Centre before his visit to Kolkata, Professor zur Hausen explained, “We presently estimate that 21 percent of the global cancer incidence can be linked to infectious events. In my opinion, it is likely that in the future this percentage will be higher since there exist epidemiologic observations which may point to an infectious involvement in some other frequent types of human cancer, e.g. colorectal tumors, childhood leukemias and premenopausal breast cancer. The analysis of those cancers and the search for the respective putative infectious agents in their etiology is presently a hot topic in our laboratory. In case an identification were to be successful, it would have profound implication for prevention, diagnosis and hopefully, also for the therapy of these cancers.”

Professor zur Hausen receives the Nobel Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf

Professor zur Hausen receives the Nobel Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf

His work in successfully isolating and characterising the two most frequent HPV types in cervical cancer lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of HPV-mediated carcinogenesis. This eventually helped the development of a preventive vaccine for cervical cancer. He reiterates “Yes, this is an important issue. Theoretically we have the chance to eradicate the agents causing the majority of these cancers by vaccination. This requires coordinated efforts on the global scale.” Professor zur Hausen expresses the hope that his research will contribute to novel modes of cancer prevention, diagnosis and, in time, also to cancer therapy.

In Kolkata, on 2nd December Professor Harald zur Hausen delivers the CFI foundation lecture on the topic ‘The search for infectious agents in human cancers: a continuous challenge’. He also visits the Bose Institute and the centre run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.

Born in 1936, Professor Harald zur Hausen recalls his early memories as a child, when he had keen interest in biology, birds, other animals and flowers and was already determined to become a scientist. He has recently taken over as the new president of the German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe), a German non-profit organisation that supports research projects to improve prevention, diagnosis, therapy, after-care and self-help for cancer patients.

Decades ago, he realised the urgent need of cancer patients for independent medical information relating to cancer. In 1986, during his time as scientific director of DKFZ, he established the Cancer Information Service (Krebsinformationsdienst, KID) at the German Cancer Research Center. KID is a telephone service offering neutral, scientifically profound and easily understandable information about cancer in Germany. It contributes to the rapid dissemination of results of translational cancer research which are relevant for practical application.

Professor zur Hausen tells GIC, “ For me ‘care’, ‘cure’, ‘prevention’, ‘rapid and early diagnosis’, as well as continued care after initial treatment are of almost the same significance. I will try my best to emphasise the interrelationship and interdependence of these approaches. Prevention, of course is of particular importance since it has the potential to avoid substantial suffering.”

by Tanushree Sengupta