Are we optimistic or just complacent? For its 75th anniversary, India’s Tata Memorial Centre invited the research world to take a fresh look at whether we are on track for defeating cancer. Vineet Gupta reports. [more]
The concept is attractive, the results in some patients have been stunning, but what will it take to extend these impressive responses to wider groups of patients? Peter McIntyre reports. There is a growing sense [more]
New knowledge favours promoting peace over waging war The world spends billions on trench warfare with cancer and makes slow progress with heavy collateral damage. New knowledge about the process of carcinogenesis and tumour growth [more]
As patents on the first generation of monoclonal antibodies begin to expire, the cancer community will need to get to grips with the unique issues involved in ensuring the safety and efficacy of copies of [more]
Early detection, disease prognosis, a guide to treatment, a key to unlock the secrets of how cancers evolve. Researchers have high hopes for what they can learn from the biological detritus shed by primary tumours [more]
The beta-carotene fiasco warned oncologists off suggesting supplements on the basis of observational studies. But with vitamin D now in the spotlight, how should doctors respond when their patients ask if it could help? A [more]
Recent years have seen a revival of interest in the unique metabolism of cancer cells. This time the focus is on the potential it offers as a target, rather than any possible causal role [more]
Could the new generation of antibodydrug conjugates herald a move away from conventional untargeted chemotherapy? Much will depend on how far and in whom their added benefit can justify the high cost of [more]
Dose too strongly and the patient gets more harm than benefit, too weakly and the drug cant do its job. Could oncology learn from other fields about using pharmacokinetics in the clinic to hit it [more]
Advances in imaging and molecular biology are opening up a wealth of new avenues for research and treatment in radiotherapy. But could progress be held back by a lack of public awareness of the potential [more]
Is there a logic, a pattern, a system behind the way cancer cells adapt to develop resistance to agents designed to kill them? Cancer research is calling on systems biologists to see if they can [more]
Joining a clinical trial can be a lifeline for patients with few options open to them. But are outdated attitudes and practices preventing them from benefiting as much as they could? The transformation in the [more]
The debilitating impact neurotoxic drugs can have on patients long-term quality of life has been systematically underestimated. Can oncologists do more to pick up potential symptoms before they become irreversible? Cancer patients about to start [more]