The Hormone-Dependent Cancers

THIS PAPER is a brief account of studies on cancer pursued by co-workers in our laboratory and of some significant contributions by others in related areas. There were only a few young people participating in our work at any one time because creative work requires rather serene surroundings. Both distraction and, equally, solitude are deterrents to imaginative efforts. The work consisted of attempts to pose simple questions and to find methods to answer them, trying to elucidate the nature of cancer. It is difficult to control a disease which is not understood. With understanding, alleviation often follows. Hormone-Dependent Cancer The concept of hormone-dependence of cancers arose from experimental study of the activity of prostatic glands, of both the normal and malignant sort. Does the cancer cell possess qualities of its normal progenitor? Yes. Indeed, some cancers retain characteristics of their normal antecedents. Among these is hormone-responsiveness. From the studies it