The New York Times - June 13, 1984
Harold M. Schmeck Jr.

Three awards totaling $390,000 were given to Dr. J. Michael Bishop and Dr. Harold E. Varmus of the University of California at San Francisco, who shared one, and to Dr. Robert C. Gallo of the National Cancer Institute at Bethesda, Md., and Dr. Barnett Rosenberg of Michigan State University at East Lansing.

Each award consists of $130,000, of which $30,000 is to finance a special workshop or symposium to be organized by the winner, and a gold medal.

Dr. Rosenberg, a physicist, was cited by the award committee for the development of the drug cisplatin, a platinum and chloride compound that has "dramatically improved the cure rates for some cancers, such as advanced testicular cancer, that were once uniformly fatal," the award citation said.

There Was Early Skepticism

Dr. Rosenberg made the original discovery in the 1960's in experiments on the effects of electromagnetic energy on cell growth. He found that bacterial cells stopped growing when platinum electrodes were used to administer electric current to their culture medium. The key discovery that followed was that it was not the electricity but the platinum that was halting the multiplication of the bacterial cells.

He persisted in the research despite skepticism by experts in the drug treatment of cancer. "Today," said the award citation, cisplatin is the mainstay of chemotherapy for many solid tumors."

Dr. Gallo, a physician, was cited for discoveries that have "profoundly influenced modern cancer research" by showing that a virus called HTLV 1 is a cause of leukemia in humans. The initials stand for human T cell leukemia virus. Dr. Gallo's research for many years sought to prove that viruses could be identified as causes of human cancers.

His team has recently discovered two related viruses, HTLV 2 and 3. The latter is strongly suspected of causing acquired immune deficiency syndrome, known as AIDS.

At the news conference at which the awards were announced, Dr. Gallo said he doubted that there was any essential link between homosexuality and AIDS. Instead, he said, homosexuals were probably the population group in this country that first came into contact with the virus.

Most of the known cases of AIDS have been among sexually promiscuous homosexuals.

Other Populations Affected

Now, Dr. Gallo said, the virus is moving "little by little" to other populations, including heterosexuals and children. He said also that person-to-person infection with the virus appeared to be difficult and seems likely to require some penetration of the blood stream.

The prize shared by Dr. Bishop and Dr. Varmus, both physicians, was for key discoveries concerning oncogenes. These are genes that have been implicated in the earliest and most fundamental phase of the causes of cancer.

Oncogenes were first found in viruses known to cause cancers in animals, but the two scientists in California were the first to prove that these genes came originally from animal cells. More than 20 of them are now known.

Furthermore, such genes appear to have important functions in normal cells, probably related to growth proceses. The genes appear to contribute to the cause of cancers when they are perturbed by extraneous events or perhaps random mutations.

The award winners will give lectures today at the National Institutes of Health at Bethesda, Md., and will receive their prizes at a dinner tonight in Washington.

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