Werner Henle; Found Virus Tied to Cancer
Werner Henle, a virologist who with his wife was credited with discovering the first virus associated with human cancer and whose work with vaccines saved thousands of children’s lives, has died of cancer at the age of 77.
Dr. Henle, emeritus director of the Virus Diagnostics Laboratory of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, died Monday at a suburban Philadelphia Hospital.
With Dr. Gertrude Henle, his wife and research partner, Henle received worldwide acclaim for work in the fields of virology, immunology and viral oncology. Their accomplishments included a number of discoveries about how viral infections develop.
Many Contributions
Henle and his wife were associated with Children’s Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania for more than 40 years.
Among their contributions were the first convincing demonstration in 1943 of the effectiveness of inoculation against influenza, the development of a rapid test to diagnose mumps in the first few days of illness and the evaluation of a vaccine that gives immunity against mumps.
They also cooperated with the late Dr. Joseph Stokes Jr. in the original work that showed the effectiveness of gamma globulin against infectious hepatitis.
Virus and Cancer
“Perhaps the discovery that brought the most public interest occurred in the late ‘60s, when the Drs. Henle identified the first virus regularly associated with human cancers,” said Children’s Hospital spokeswoman Shirley Bonnem.
The discovery established the link between Epstein-Barr virus, infectious mononucleosis and Burkitt’s lymphoma, a cancer common in parts of Africa.
For showing the relationship between a virus and human cancer, Henle and his wife, who survives him, were given the prestigious $25,000 Bristol-Myers Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Research in 1979.
