(Prof. Dr. B. Vogelstein, Prof. Dr. D. Sidransky)
The German Society for Clinical Chemistry awarded the Sarstedt Research Prize, worth DM 50,000, for the fifth time on 7 November 1997 during the Sarstedt Symposium.
The prize was presented by Prof. Dr. Wagener, President of the German Society for Clinical Chemistry, to Prof. Dr. B. Vogelstein and Prof. Dr. D. Sidransky, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
Prof. Dr. B. Vogelstein was honoured for his work in molecular biology in researching the genetic causes of tumor formation in the colon. He was able to show that the switchover of healthy cells to cancer cells occurs through an accumulation of genetic changes in the cell nucleus of intestinal mucosa cells.
The findings obtained on the mechanism of the formation of colorectal cancer on a molecular level make it possible to better distinguish between and delineate symptoms. This allows a more accurate prognosis of the course of the disease. The knowledge gained has also led to the development of new treatment concepts.
As a colleague and later a collaborative partner of Prof. Dr. B. Vogelstein, Prof. Dr. D. Sidranksy worked most notably on the clinical-chemical implementation of Prof. Dr. B. Vogelstein's theoretical concepts.
The detection methods developed by Prof. Dr. D. Sidranksy are significantly more sensitive than previous common cytological investigations. It is therefore possible to detect a tumor at a very early stage of development, even when there are only very few cells present.