What's New in Cancer Research?
Cancer is not just one disease; it is many.The latest advances in genetics, immunology and cellular biology are paving the way to better treatments (and perhaps even a few cures) for all of them
New Drugs Free the Immune System to Fight Cancer
By releasing the brakes that tumor cells place on the immune system, researchers are developing a new generation of more powerful treatments against malignancy
Viewing Cancer as a Physics Problem Suggests New Treatments
Cells and a stiff material called the matrix can squeeze blood vessels in tumors and thus block delivery of cancer-fighting drugs to malignant cells. Now researchers may have a way to reopen vessels and restore the drugs' power
Book Excerpt: George Johnson Explores the Latest Discoveries about Cancer
Researchers have uncovered processes that make cancer even more complicated than they thought it was
A New Ally against Cancer: Vaccines
The FDA recently okayed the first therapeutic cancer vaccine, and other drugs that enlist the immune system against tumors are under study
Cancer: The March on Malignancy
New research into how and why tumors form, grow and spread is producing better screening tests and more effective remedies with fewer side effects
Clinical Trials: More Trials, Fewer Tribulations
Clinical studies that group patients according to their molecular profile can make for better and faster drug approval decisions
Bioinformatics: Big Data Versus the Big C
The torrents of data flowing out of cancer research and treatment are yielding fresh insight into the disease
Introduction to the Hallmarks of Cancer
In 2000, Robert Weinberg and Douglas Hanahan published a review article in the journal Cell titled “The Hallmarks of Cancer“. It was a seminal paper in every sense of the word; downloaded 20,000 times a year between 2004 and 2007, with over 15,000 citations in other research papers.
Doctors Underestimate Environment as Cause for Cancer
A presidential panel warns about human exposure to carcinogens
Mapping the Cancer Genome
Pinpointing the genes involved in cancer will help chart a new course across the complex landscape of human malignancies
Stem Cells: The Real Culprits in Cancer?
A dark side of stem cells--their potential to turn malignant--is at the root of a handful of cancers and may be the cause of many more. Eliminating the disease could depend on tracking down and destroying these elusive killer cells
Cancer Clues from Pet Dogs
Studies of pet dogs with cancer can offer unique help in the fight against human malignancies while also improving care for man's best friend
What Do Your Tumor Genes Say About Your Prospects? The Quest, Part 7
In the past couple of months, three people have told me that they or someone they love has cancer. Fortunately in each case, the tumors were caught early and some combination of surgery and radiation was all the treatment that was likely to be needed.
Fighting Cancer with Physics
Rakesh K. Jain, director of the Edwin L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology in the radiation oncology department of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, talks about his article in the February issue of Scientific American about interfering with extracellular matrix as a way to increase the efficacy of cancer therapy
![Who Knew? Cancer Has an Off Switch [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/4D8484F8-A0D5-4A5A-BAEBC074A3367EC0_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Who Knew? Cancer Has an Off Switch [Video]
A new drug combination jump-starts the body’s ability to fight cancer
Swelling in a Slit Tumor Reveals the Inner Squeezing It Felt [Video]
Such squeezing can close blood vessels and impair the effectiveness of anticancer drugs
Oncogenes
They are genes that cause cancer. They were first found in viruses, but their evolutionary history implies that normal vertebrate cells have genes whose abnormal expression can lead to cancerous growth
