Nearly half a century ago, when he died at the age of 87, Professor Harald zur Hausen discovered a link between the human papillomavirus and cervical cancer, but few of his colleagues took the breakthrough seriously. Orthodoxy asserts that the disease is caused by the herpes virus. Few were keen to revise it based on the words of a young virologist known for his work on cervical cancer.
But after decades of tireless work, his discovery is now regarded as one of the most remarkable medical advances of modern times. It paves the way for preventive vaccines that promise to save millions of lives. In 2008, he received the highest honor: the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
He was determined to press on despite the skepticism of his elders, once telling an interviewer: “I come from a part of Germany that is known for being relatively stubborn.”
Born in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia in 1936, his childhood was dislocated by World War II. In 1943, the local school was closed due to heavy Allied bombing. “My elementary school training was full of gaps,” he recalls.
After earning his MD at the University of Düsseldorf in 1960, he began research and was fascinated by the relationship between infection and cancer, a field in which he would leave an indelible legacy. In his lab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, run by Werner and Gertrude Henle, he studies how the Epstein-Barr virus is linked to the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a cancer primarily found in southern China.
“Harald was able to demonstrate the presence of Epstein-Barr virus DNA in actual cancer cells,” says Paul Farrell, a professor of tumor virology at Imperial College London who first collaborated with zur Hausen in the 1980s. other types of cancer.
But he faced hostility from the scientific establishment when he tried to determine which of the many different HPVs might cause cervical cancer. Margaret Stanley, emeritus professor of pathology at the University of Cambridge, said that by challenging “groupthink” about the cause of the disease, he undermined the validity of the herpes theory that other researchers had put so much effort into.
Zur Hausen with his wife and research partner Ethel-Michele de Villiers in Stockholm shortly before receiving the Nobel Prize © dpa/Picture Alliance/Alamy Photo
“Harald was very brave. He would stand up at medical conferences and say ‘we can’t find evidence to support this’. For a while, he got a lot of abuse because the (research) community just didn’t want to accept him. The science is very rigorous and honest,” Stanley said.
Eventually, he managed to isolate several different human papillomaviruses, and found that two of them—HPV 16 and HPV 18—were responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancers. Stanley recalls it as an “eureka moment,” but Howson himself was generally modest about it. “He just said, ‘I think this (theory) might be true’ . . . the people who work for him are super excited (but) he’s cool.”
Colleagues remember him as a well-mannered, impeccably dressed, cultured man with a love of classical music. Stanley said he was a powerful speaker on the wider causes of cancer who had no trouble filling lecture halls and who, even after his Nobel Prize, was not arrogant.
Prof. Otmar Wiestler, who succeeded zur Hausen as head of the German Cancer Research Centre, which has been in operation for 20 years, remembers him as a generous mentor who excelled at discovering and nurturing young scientific talent. Even in the final weeks of his life, he continued to work in his laboratory, still pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery.
In his 60s, he began exploring a new theory that, like his HPV hypothesis, challenged established wisdom. He believes that colorectal cancer may not be caused by eating red meat, as has long been suspected, but by a virus present in cattle that does not make the animals themselves sick but may be harmful to humans. Carcinogenic to humans.
Ultimately, he and his wife, Professor Ethel-Michele de Villiers, his research partner for many years and a major contributor to his success, identified a stretch of viral DNA that the couple “felt very strongly about as likely responsible,” said colleagues. agent,” Westler said.
“In a way, it’s a real regret and tragedy that he didn’t have time to do this work,” which could have profound implications for the treatment of the disease, Wiestler added. “He’s really up to date, very literate, full of ideas. He’s sharp to the end.”
sarah.neville@ft.com