Gee, just when I thought this was an open ended musing on the past and I was about to jump in with saying whoa, what about the major contribution by German physician-scientist, Dr. Harald zur Hausen, 72, for his discovery of HPV, or the human papilloma virus causing cervical cancer,which won him the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine. According to the New York Times: [quote]In 1983, Zur Hausen discovered the first HPV, type 16, among biopsies of women who had cervical cancer. He went on to show that more than one HPV type could lead to cervical cancer, in part by cloning HPV 16 and another type, 18. Further research has shown that the two HPV types are consistently found in about 70 percent of cervical cancer biopsies throughout the world,[/quote]
All the newsreports used the Nobel Prize phrase that Zur Hausen, went against the "current dogma of the medical establishment" . [quote]His discovery has led to characterization of the natural history of HPV infection, an understanding of mechanisms of HPV-induced carcinogenesis and the development of prophylactic vaccines against HPV acquisition.[/quote] Note that it took 25 years before this doctor got his appropriate recognition. So mark your calendars for around 2033 to see when Dr. Gillison's and OCF's contributions are belatedly acknowledged.
charm

They can keep any acknowledgments .... I would just like to see something for those already exposed to protect them, or a means to break the cascade of events that leads to malignancy in those exposed once that sequence of events is discovered before a malignancy actually develops.

I forget where I found the original article about a French doc that first realized that cervical cancer was tied to sexual behavior. He noticed that prostitutes were often found with the disease, but nuns ( who practiced celibacy) never were, concluding that without sex, the unknown causative agent could not be transfered to someone.

Well, since my cancer was HPV-caused I guess I've lived life more like a prostitute than a nun....

D2

Well, at least it means that like most adults, you have had sex at some point. This is not a virus that people are easily going to avoid, since it is so commonplace. There are just some of us, me included, that have an immune system that does not recognize it as a threat, or is unable to clear the infection.

D2,

You can have oral sex one time and contract HPV orally. You can french kiss one time and contract HPV orally.

Maybe you were just lucky?

Darn! That ONE TIME... what were the odds?

LOL No comment. I can't even count that high.

No comment necessary, Jim. All I have to do is read that "cancer free aug 08" at the bottom of your post and I break into a big smile.(to say nothing of your 100 weekly miles, fellow D!)

D2