CANCER - A BIOLOGICAL APPROACH .1. THE PROCESSES OF CONTROL
CANCER - A BIOLOGICAL APPROACH .1. THE PROCESSES OF CONTROL
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DOI：
10.1136/bmj.1.5022.779
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发表时间：
1957-01-01
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
BURNET, M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
BURNET, M
了解和控制癌症是当今医学最紧迫的问题。关于这一课题的大量研究，尤其是在美国，在两个“实际”方向上有很大的偏差。目前有一种强烈的倾向，即集中于可能提供以下线索的调查：(a)为癌症的早期诊断制定检验方法，(b)通过非手术手段治愈癌症。这可能导致了对生化方面的过度兴趣，特别是肿瘤细胞的酶活性。很明显，如果要找到一种化疗物质，它将是一种能够不同地抑制肿瘤细胞与正常细胞不同的某些过程的物质。这种偏见既是不可避免的，也是可取的，但它不应影响任何试图从一般生物学概念中获得这一过程的清晰图景的努力。科学家可分为三组。有些人，像我一样，认为在科学发展的每一个阶段，都有必要提供最好的概括，作为有效工作的指导，无论是在将知识应用于人类需求还是在规划未来的研究中。另一个极端是那些认为唯一有价值的科学活动是集中于知识的某个重要方面，直到事实是无可争议的，并且可以用所有有能力的工作者都能接受的一般陈述来表达，最好是数学形式。这样，我们就有了一个明确的知识单元，当需要在任何领域应用知识时，可以可靠地使用它。绝大多数科学家采取中间立场，通常对所选领域的详细研究感到直接的兴趣，但对学习各种更广泛领域的一般图景的出现感兴趣。目前讨论癌症一般问题的方法直接源于最近一篇文章（Burnet, 1956）中对抗体产生性质的兴趣和大分子模式的想法。它必然不是基于该领域的个人工作或对原始文献的全面了解，而是基于最近的一般论文和汇编，只有当这些论文对讨论提供重要贡献时，才会参考原始论文。
The understanding and control of cancer is the most urgent problem of medicine to-day. The volume of research on the subject, particularly in America, is vast and heavily biased in two" practical" directions. There is a strong tendency to concentrate on investigations that may provide leads (a) to the elaboration of tests for the early diagnosis of cancer, and (b) to its cure by nonsurgical means. This has led perhaps to an undue interest in the biochemical aspects and especially the enzymic activities of tumour cells. Clearly if a chemotherapeutic substance is to be found it will be something which can differentially inhibit some processes by which tumour cells differ from normal cells. Such a bias is both inevitable and desirable, but it should have no influence on any attempts to gain a clear picture of the process in terms of general biological concepts. Scientists may be divided into three groups. There are those, like myself, who believe that at every stage in scientific development it is necessaryto provide the best available generalizations as a guide to effective work, both in the application of knowledge to human needs and in the planning of future research. At the other extreme are those who feel that the only valuable scientific activity is to concentrate on somesignificant facet of knowledge until the facts are incontrovertible and are expressible in some general statement, prefer-ably mathematical in form, that is acceptable to all com-petent workers. Then we have available a defined unit of knowledge which can be used reliably when the time comes to apply the knowledge inany field where it is required. The great majority of scientists take an intermediate position, usually finding their immediate interest in the detailed study of a chosen field, but interested in learning of the emergence ofgeneral pictures in the various wider fields.The present approach to a discussion of the general problems of cancer springs directly from an interest in the nature of antibody production and the ideas of macromolecular pattern developed in a recent essay (Burnet, 1956). It is necessarily based not on personal work in the field or on a comprehensive knowledge of the original literature, but on recent general treatises and compilations, reference to the original papers being made only when these provide essential contributions to the discussion.