University of Oxford, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Oxford, UK
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English word genome is derived from the German Genom, first used by the cytogeneticist Hans Winkler in 1920 to describe the haploid chromosome set of an organism. Notably, the word Genom was derived, by analogy, from Mitom, coined by cytologist Walther Flemming in 1882 to describe the reticular structures of the cell collectively.
Next to these old-timers, the proteome is a neonate, younger even than that other baby, the World Wide Web, having been first used by Wasinger et al. in the journal Electrophoresis in 1995 [1]. As will be apparent to anyone with more than a cursory knowledge of the recent literature, there has been, since then, something of an ome explosion, with the glycome, the metabolome and, a favourite of mine, the biobibliome all having emerged in the last 5 years.
Literature searching by means of biobliometrics [2] is particularly appealing to me, as a scientist and journal editor, since the aim is not to identify previously unread but relevant articles (no small thing to be sure), but to identify previously unknown gene associations simply by assessing the patterns of gene names used in Medline documents. Successful science must surely, in part, be about such innovative use of existing knowledge and resources.
Of course, much of what I and my colleagues among the editors of Annals of Oncology do, is try to identify that successful science and ensure that it gets into the literature in the first place. First impressions, as I have said before [3], play a fundamental part in this process. On that previous occasion I introduced the 2002 Annals of Oncology prizes and considered those first impressions with a certain pride. Now, 2 years on, I again find myself introducing those prizes and, similarly, am able to reflect on the high quality of work received by the Annals and the high quality of the advice I receive about what should go into the journal. Choosing just a few articles among the several hundred we have published over the last 2 years (in volumes 13 and 14) has been a difficult task but a rewarding one.
Our aim then has been to reward and recognise those researchers who support the journal and strive, with us, to achieve excellence. Like our monthly routine task of selecting articles, only more so, the prizes are an attempt to recognise the best published articles in the categories of translational science, phase I, phase II and phase III studies. Our decisions (the judging has been by an editorial subcommittee) consider the areas of innovation, scientific quality and potential impact on the field, the pillars upon which Annals of Oncology is founded. Generous to a fault, we are backing up these judgements with cash prizes, with the author of the prizewinning article in each category receiving EUR 1000.
Yet the simplest way for me to explain what I am on about will be to introduce the articles.
Annals of Oncology Prize for translational science
"Cooperative inhibitory effect of ZD1839 (Iressa) in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) on human breast cancer cell growth", by Normanno et al. [4].
Honourable mentions in this category go to:
"Quantitative measurement of BCR/abl transcripts using real-time polymerase chain reaction", by Lee et al. [5]; and to
"Increased cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression is associated with chemotherapy resistance and outcome in ovarian cancer patients", by Ferrandina et al. [6].
Annals of Oncology Prize for phase I studies
"A pilot trial of G3139, a bcl-2 antisense oligonucleotide, and paclitaxel in patients with chemorefractory small-cell lung cancer", by Rudin et al. [7].
Honourable mentions in this category go to:
"Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of CCI-779, a novel cytostatic cell-cycle inhibitor, in combination with 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin in patients with advanced solid tumors", by Punt et al. [8]; and to
"Phase I pharmacokinetic trial of the selective oral epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib (Iressa, ZD1839) in Japanese patients with solid malignant tumors", by Nakagawa et al. [9].
Annals of Oncology Prize for phase II studies
"Phase II trial of thalidomide in renal-cell carcinoma", by Escudier et al. [10].
Honourable mentions must also go to:
"A phase II trial of farnesyl protein transferase inhibitor SCH 66336, given by twice-daily oral administration, in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer refractory to 5-fluorouracil and irinotecan", by Sharma et al. [11]; and to
"Neovastat (AE-941) in refractory renal cell carcinoma patients: report of a phase II trial with two dose levels", by Batist et al. [12].
Annals of Oncology Prize for phase III studies
"Phase III randomised trial comparing paclitaxel/carboplatin with paclitaxel/cisplatin in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: a cooperative multinational trial", by Rosell et al. [13].
Honourable mentions go to:
"Intravenous ibandronate reduces the incidence of skeletal complications in patients with breast cancer and bone metastases", by Body et al. [14]; and to
"Prospective randomized comparison of vincristine, doxorubicin and dexamethasone (VAD) administered as intravenous bolus injection and VAD with liposomal doxorubicin as first-line treatment in multiple myeloma", by Dimopoulos et al. [15].
Knowledge is power, or so said Sir Francis Bacon. I believe that these articles have added to both our knowledge and our power. Certainly I thank all those authors and, indeed, all those who continue to send their manuscripts to Annals of Oncology. Keep up the good work.
So, clearly, I am still very proud of Annals, the work we receive and the work we do. And long may it remain so. Should you have an important manuscript on your desk right now, I hope that you will give serious consideration to sending it to us.
See you in 2006.
References
1. Wasinger VC, Cordwell SJ, Cerpa-Poljak A et al. Progress with gene-product mapping of the Mollicutes: Mycoplasma genitalium. Electrophoresis 1995; 16: 10901094.[ISI][Medline]
2. Stapley BJ, Benoit G. Biobibliometrics: information retrieval and visualization from co-occurrences of gene names in Medline abstracts. Pac Symp Biocomput 2000; 529540.
3. Kerr DJ. Pride and judgement: the Annals of Oncology prizes. Ann Oncol 2002; 13: 817818.
4. Normanno N, Campiglio M, De Luca A et al. Cooperative inhibitory effect of ZD1839 (Iressa) in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) on human breast cancer cell growth. Ann Oncol 2002; 13: 6572.
5. Lee W-I, Kantarjian H, Glassman A et al. Quantitative measurement of BCR/abl transcripts using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Ann Oncol 2002; 13: 781788.
6. Ferrandina G, Lauriola L, Zannoni GF et al. Increased cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression is associated with chemotherapy resistance and outcome in ovarian cancer patients. Ann Oncol 2002; 13: 12051211.
7. Rudin CM, Otterson GM, Mauer AM et al. A pilot trial of G3139, a bcl-2 antisense oligonucleotide, and paclitaxel in patients with chemorefractory small-cell lung cancer. Ann Oncol 2002; 13: 539545.
8. Punt CJA, Boni J, Bruntsch U et al. Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of CCI-779, a novel cytostatic cell-cycle inhibitor, in combination with 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin in patients with advanced solid tumors. Ann Oncol 2003; 14: 931937.
9. Nakagawa K, Tamura T, Negoro S et al. Phase I pharmacokinetic trial of the selective oral epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib (Iressa, ZD1839) in Japanese patients with solid malignant tumors. Ann Oncol 2003; 14: 922930.
10. Escudier B, Lassau N, Couanet D et al. Phase II trial of thalidomide in renal-cell carcinoma. Ann Oncol 2002; 13: 10291035.
11. Sharma S, Kemeny N, Kelsen DP et al. A phase II trial of farnesyl protein transferase inhibitor SCH 66336, given by twice-daily oral administration, in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer refractory to 5-fluorouracil and irinotecan. Ann Oncol 2002; 13: 10671071.
12. Batist G, Patenaude F, Champagne P et al. Neovastat (Æ-941) in refractory renal cell carcinoma patients: report of a phase II trial with two dose levels. Ann Oncol 2002; 13: 12591263.
13. Rosell R, Gatzemeier U, Betticher DC et al. Phase III randomised trial comparing paclitaxel/carboplatin with paclitaxel/cisplatin in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: a cooperative multinational trial. Ann Oncol 2002; 13: 15391549.
14. Body J-J, Diel IJ, Lichinitser MR et al. Intravenous ibandronate reduces the incidence of skeletal complications in patients with breast cancer and bone metastases. Ann Oncol 2003; 14: 13991405.
15. Dimopoulos MA, Pouli A, Zervas K et al. Prospective randomized comparison of vincristine, doxorubicin and dexamethasone (VAD) administered as intravenous bolus injection and VAD with liposomal doxorubicin as first-line treatment in multiple myeloma. Ann Oncol 2003; 14: 10391044.