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From the Editors
Throughout human history, infectious diseases have been the main threat to human health. The major advances in medicine of the 19th and 20th centuries were in the control of these diseases, with improved sanitation, immunization, and the discovery of antibiotics. As a result, life expectancy has dramatically increased into the 70s and 80s, and chronic diseases, notably cancer and cardiovascular disease, have become the primary threats to mortality in the US and the Western world.
Over the past 30 years, however, an interesting phenomenon has occurred in our understanding of cancer etiology. Scientists have discovered that infectious agents, primarily certain viruses such as hepatitis B and C and human papillomavirus, are responsible for causing several types of cancer. This is an optimistic message for the future of cancer control and prevention because it means that the tools that were developed for the control of infectious diseases-- immunization and antiviral treatments-- can now be applied as well to the control of cancer.
The most recent and perhaps one of the most important discoveries in this area has been the identification of a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, as a major etiologic agent for gastric cancer and possibly for other cancers as well. This is an interesting and exciting discovery because it means that antibiotics or vaccines may be able to be employed in the prevention and treatment of this important type of cancer.
In this issue of Cancer Prevention, we begin a series in which we will highlight an infectious agent and cancer in each issue. We start with this newest discovery, H. pylori and its link to gastric cancer. We hope you, our readers, find the series enlightening.
The Editors
Andrew J. Dannenberg, MD
Henry R. Erle, MD-Roberts Family Professor of Medicine
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Co-Director
Cancer Prevention Program
NewYork-Presbyterian Cancer Centers
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Alfred I. Neugut, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology
Head of Cancer Prevention
Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Mailman School of Public Health
Co-Director
Cancer Prevention Program
NewYork-Presbyterian Cancer Centers
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
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