Oral carcinoma: evidence for viral oncogenesis

Since early this century, when Rous (1911) first demonstrated the association of a tumour (chicken sarcoma) with a transmissible agent, evidence has accumulated on possible associations between viruses and various neoplasms. There is now conclusive evidence linking some RNA viruses (Temin, 1972) and DNA viruses (Rapp, 1973) with tumours in animals--including sub-human primates (Leading article, 1982). Indeed, a serious complication of hepatitis B infection in man is now recognised to be hepatocellular carcinoma. (Editorial, 1982). The evidence association other viruses with human neoplasms is not unequivocal but there are strong associations between, for example, herpesviruses and some human malignant neoplasms (Klein, 1972; Rapp, 1973; zur Hausen, 1975).