Interplay of viruses and radiation in carcinogenesis

The discovery by Gross and by Lieberman and Kaplan that leukemias induced by irradiation in mice may be transmissible by cell-free filtrates pointed to the existence of an interplay between the effects of radiation and those of an otherwise latent oncogenic virus, which has since been the subject of intensive study. In the years intervening since these pioneer observations, efforts have been made to elucidate the nature and mechanisms of the interplay and to determine whether other neoplasms also may be elicited by an interaction between virus and radiation. The results of these efforts, although still highly preliminary, are surveyed in the light of recent advances in viral oncology