The role of viruses in the origin of leukaemia in animals and man.

In the course of the last decade intensive research has been conducted in many laboratories on the role of viruses in the etiology of various forms of animal and human leukaemia. This research has led to the accumulation of substantial experimental material, several reviews of which have been published.This article discusses the more important data obtained from study of the etiology of leukaemia in animals and man and attempts to evaluate them and to outline the pathways of study of problems still unsolved. It also contains information on the induction of leukaemia and tumours by means of nucleic acids isolated from neoplastic tissues, and some general problems of the pathogenesis of cancer caused by viruses are discussed in this connexion.