Experiences with chemotherapy for cancer have led to an enrichment in knowledge of the molecular basis for neoplastic disease; in turn, advances in molecular genetics have opened new approaches to cancer chemotherapy. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first report of a trial of cancer chemotherapy, an event closely related to the development of chemical poisons for use in warfare. Clinical investigators were able to derive some good for mankind from the agony and pain resulting from chemical agents created primarily to destroy humans.