Scientific American Outlines Next Generation of Cancer Research

By Richard Shank Cancer

Scientific American recently published a special edition focusing on cutting-edge cancer treatment and research. This edition includes articles on living with cancer, the evolutionary development of cancer, the causes of cancer, and new treatments. Given the length of this edition, we will provide a basic overview of the state of knowledge about cancer.

It has been 40 years since the beginning of a concerted international effort to prevent and treat cancer. Since that time knowledge of cancer has increased exponentially and has driven scientific and technological advances in cancer treatment. Today, it is known that cancer’s origins reside in the complex junction of environmental factors, personal history, and lifestyle choices. This complexity has made preventing and treating cancer a difficult task. As a consequence, cancer treatments are wide ranging, from targeting genome characteristics and stem cells, to organ resection and radiation therapy. Prevention strategies are similarly complex, focusing on environmental factors and lifestyle choices that multiply the genetic risks possessed by some people. Despite this complexity, the survival rates for most cancers have increased dramatically over the years. These gains in mortality are the result of better diagnostic procedures, more successful treatments, and healthier lifestyle choices (e.g. reduced smoking, dietary changes, etc).

Researchers who examine the evolution of cancer are still debating what mechanisms have caused different forms of cancer to develop and eventually evolve. What they do understand is that, at its root, cancer is a multi-cellular disease that forms as a result of rare mutations in the normal process of cellular division.

Cellular division occurring inside our bodies carries a profound risk. When cells divide within the body, a common aging process, its DNA has a small chance of acquiring a cancer-causing mutation. These rare instances can cause a cell to multiple uncontrollably and develop into a tumor-like tissue, or even allow mutated cells to invade surrounding tissues and spread through the body.

Genetic research has identified six abnormal characteristics of these cancerous cellular mutations. These characteristics imply how difficult it can be to stop the spread of cancer and underline the importance of early detection.

Cancerous cells amplify tissue growth and can even generate their own tissue growth.
These cells do not listen to signals from surrounding tissue.
The mechanisms that normally trigger the cellular death of damaged cells are overridden by cancer cells.
Cancerous cells evade the limits on the number of times a normal cell can divide.
Cancerous cells in tumors emit signals promoting the development of new blood vessels to deliver oxygen and nutrients to sustain themselves.
These cells can ignore the signals that normally hold a healthy cell in place and prevent it from traveling to, and living inside of, another tissue.

This knowledge is driving new research about how lifestyle choices such as diet and exercise can impact the healthy maintenance of cellular aging. Medical researchers are discovering new ways to treat a variety of cancers utilizing the growing body of knowledge about stem cells. With these advances, it is clear that cancer research and treatment has come a long way in a short period of time; however, the complex causes of cancer suggest that there is still a very long way to go.

For more information, see the special edition at http://www.sciam.com.

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