Zahrawi to Knudson: the premise of the strikes to a Cancer was correct?

Abstract

In America, at the beginning of the seventies of the last century Professor Dr. Knudson published a new theory for the initiation of cancer indicating that the cancer in order to be initiated; two-hits (genetic mutation) in the same gene must be occurred. And in inherited cases one hit came congenitally which remains until the occurrence of the second hit in the same gene due to external factor, i.e, that cancer in order to arise, Knudson in his hypothesis said that there should be an internal factor originally came with the birth and the presence of an external factor, both work on the same locus to cause genetic mutation. However, in sporadic cancer the two hits must be occurred after birth in the same locus. This theory had proved its validity over the years and verified with evidence accumulated from the application of modern techniques in genetic engineering and oncogenes and particularly in tumour suppressor genes and what was found on one type of eye cancer, breast and others. That theory brought about a new start in understanding the process of carcinogenesis and still dominating the specialized scientific literatures. Sailing for the past, to turn the pages of a book in the medicine and surgery for the greatest surgeon of his time under the title (Al-Tasrif Limen Ajiza An Al-Taaleef) written by the Andalusian surgeon Abu al-Qasim Khalaf bin Abbas Alzahrawi, will bring about to find that Alzahrawi explained this hypothesis clearly and reported that the cancer in order to occur, two hits must be occurred in an organ, one is internal and the other is external, just as the findings of Knudson reported after a thousand years of Alzahrawi time. Here, local and international scientific media have to know that the two hits theory was proposed by Alzahrawi a thousand years before, and that Dr. Knudson thankfully came to announce his two hit theory perhaps without knowing what was written by Alzahrawi. Moreover all scientific and academic medical authorities should commemorate and loyal to this honourable scientist through nominating hospitals or medical colleges by his name or through establishing national medical prize holding his name.

Keywords

Zahrawi, Knudson, cancer