The viral theory of cancer

I am old enough to remember when AIDS was known as "gay cancer."

This was because of Kaposi's Sarcoma, an especially nasty type of cancer that quickly became associated with AIDS when it first infested the American gay population back in the 1980s.

It was hard for public health officials to get their arms around the idea that a virus could cause a cancer. Some still don't.

But this is the message in this year's Nobel Prize for Medicine, which went to the Frenchmen who found HIV and the German who found HPV, the human pappiloma virus implicated in certain types of cervical cancer.

You might call this the viral theory of cancer. It does not explain all cancers. Far from it. But the link is there, and it's proven in these cancers. That's an enormous breakthrough.

Like any theory it can be taken too far, but when properly applied it's a life-saver. This can be seen in the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, which could save the life your teenage daughter if she takes it before beginning sexual activity.

One of the great breakthroughs of the 19th century, the germ theory of disease, resulted in modern hygienic practices and antibiotics.

This viral theory of cancer, while old enough to result in a Nobel, is in fact quite new in scientific terms. Like all great theories, it is a starting point, not a finishing line.

That's what we need to remember as we applaud the work of Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Luc Montagnier, and Harald zur Hausen. They have opened a new line of scientific inquiry for all of us, and what cures this implies is still unknown.

Finding out will result in many more Nobels down the road.