[Initiation of the mouse sarcoma virus oncogene v-K-ras during the chemical treatment of proto-oncogene C-ras].

On the basis of the results obtained in the laboratories of Weinberg, Barbacid et al. describing the responsibility of one or another mutation in one of coding triplets of the ras family gene both for chemical and viral cancerogenesis, we draw the conclusion that it is impossible to distinguish these two causes of cancer appearance. It is shown that the cause of mice viral sarcoma v-K ras development from the cellular protooncogene C-ras may consist in the chemical reaction of one of coding triplet nucleotides with cancerogenic substance.