| 1960 |
Chromosome abnormalities are associated with leukemias. |
| 1961 |
Marshal Nirenberg and others prove the triplet code is how the information to make proteins is stored in DNA.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves vinblastine, a drug that binds to tubulin, the protein building block of fiber-like structures called microtubules that play a key role in cell division. The drug is derived from the ornamental shrub, Vinca rosea. |
| 1962 |
The Royal College of Physicians issues a report on smoking and health.
The FDA approves 5-FU as an anticancer drug. |
| 1963 |
The FDA approves vincristine, a sister drug to vinblastine.
The Health Insurance Plan (HIP) of Greater New York Study begins. HIP is the first randomized controlled trial of periodic breast cancer screening with mammography. |
| 1964 |
The U.S. Surgeon General issues a report on reducing the health consequences of smoking.
A virus (the Epstein-Barr virus) is linked to human cancer (Burkitt lymphoma) for the first time.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is established.
The anticancer drug melphalan (L-PAM) is approved by the FDA. |
| 1966 |
NCI standardizes the testing of cancer-causing chemicals. |
| 1967 |
The guaiac fecal occult blood test (FOBT) is introduced as a screening test for colorectal cancer. Guaiac is found in the wood of the tree Guaiacum officinale and can be used to detect hemoglobin in stool samples. |
| 1969 |
Robert Heubner and George Todaro propose the oncogene hypothesis. An oncogene is a gene that has the potential to make a cell become cancerous. Oncogenes arise from normal genes, or proto-oncogenes, by mutation or by increased expression. |
