While we’re pouring resources into learning what keeps cancer cells alive, with the aim of blocking their supply lines, there is next to no interest in the molecular pathways that end up choking the life [more]
In expert hands, diagnostic multiparametric MRI is more effective than the dreaded prostate biopsy as the first step in identifying prostate cancers. It is certainly less unpleasant. Guidelines and practice are changing to reflect this, [more]
In August 2018 the first therapies aimed at re-engineering patients own T cells to attack cancer entered the European market. Rachel Brazil looks at how they work, what they achieve, and what the logistical and [more]
Game theory has been used to understand economics, ecology and evolution. It is now being used to try to help us outwit cancer. Sophie Fessl asks: will evolutionary game theory guide the way to a [more]
A spate of recent studies suggest that differences in population of bacteria and other micro-organisms that inhabit our intestines may be a key factor differentiating between people who respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors and those [more]
Could tailoring treatments to broad taxonomies work where targeting individual – or even multiple – genetic mutations has not? A growing number of researchers working on specific tumour types and/or across tumours believe this integrative [more]
Clinical oncologists face many challenges to identify the best use of the anti-EGFR drugs in patients with non-small-cell-lung cancer. Thanks to genetic analysis, they are now able to identify responders from non-responders and to counteract [more]
Population studies, mouse models, and mechanistic studies all show that metformin, a cheap well-tolerated diabetes drug, impacts in some way on how some cancers develop and progress. Anna Wagstaff talks to clinicians and researchers building [more]
If mind-boggling complexity is the barrier to developing personalised cancer care strategies, could mathematical modelling – long used by economists, meteorologists and others – be the answer? Marc Beishon talks to leading figures who are [more]
For a disease that has led the field of molecular biology, it is surprising perhaps that so few biomarkers have been identified that can predict a person’s risk of developing cancer. Researchers are now looking [more]
Clonal evolution and the ‘survival of the nastiest’ remain the chief obstacles to curing cancer. But what if we could find a way to use the principles of evolution to beat evolving cancers cells at [more]
Efforts to improve symptom control near the end of life have received more attention in recent years, but the impact is often frustratingly small. Simon Crompton asks where we are going wrong. Seven years ago, [more]
Delaying treatment for a curable prostate cancer is an increasingly popular option among men with low risk tumours. Simon Crompton looks at efforts to learn more about who benefits and how to avoid delaying too [more]