A new BATTLE in the evolving war on cancer

The Biomarker-integrated Approaches of Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer Elimination (BATTLE) trial couples real-time molecular interrogation of cancer specimens with an adaptive Bayesian clinical trial design.     

Comprehensive cancer centres and the war on cancer

Comprehensive Cancer Centres are now recognized as an important weapon in the war on cancer, but they had to fight a very different battle to become accepted by the academic community. Why were these centres developed? How do they contribute to cancer research? Have they achieved the aims for which they were set up? And how should they be improved? It is important to answer these questions because we believe that cancer centres, though in need of improvement, are vital parts of our anticancer strategy.     

Timeline: Chemotherapy and the war on cancer

The era of chemotherapy began in the 1940s with the first uses of nitrogen mustards and antifolate drugs. Cancer drug development since then has transformed from a low-budget, government-supported research effort to a high-stakes, multi-billion dollar industry. The targeted-therapy revolution has arrived, but the principles and limitations of chemotherapy discovered by the early researchers still apply. This article chronicles the history of modern chemotherapy and identifies remaining challenges for the next generation of researchers.     

A consensus statement on the gender perspective in lung cancer

Lung cancer is the most common cancer globally and has the highest mortality. Although this disease is not associated with a particular gender, its incidence is rising among women, who are diagnosed at an increasingly younger age compared with men. One of the main reasons for this rise is women taking up smoking. However, many non-smoking women also develop this disease. Other risk factors implicated in the differential development of lung cancer in women are genetic predisposition, tumour histology and molecular profile. Proportionally more women than men with lung cancer have a mutation in the EGFR gene. This consensus statement reviews the available evidence about the epidemiological, biological, diagnostic, therapeutic, social and psychological aspects of lung cancer in women.     

Double agents in the war on cancer: leukocytes govern ovarian cancer progression

In conclusion, our work expands our understanding of tumor progression and provides further mechanistic rationale to develop novel interventions targeting immunosuppression. Future studies should unveil other unrecognized aspects of the contribution of the immune system to cancer prevention and progression.     

A current perspective on local excision of rectal cancer

Local excision of rectal cancer is appealing because of its technical ease and excellent functional results, but concern over inadequate pathologic staging and inferior treatment outcomes when compared with radical surgery remain a major hurdle for its widespread use. Local failure rates in modern series for local excision are 4%-18% for T1 rectal cancers and 22%-67% for T2 cancers, and cancer cure rates are only 70%-80%. In addition, data from the past decade suggest that preoperative staging with endorectal ultrasound, use of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy/radiation therapy, and aggressive salvage surgery have not been reliable methods of limiting local tumor recurrence or improving long-term cure rates. At present, highly stringent criteria for patient selection are recommended, yet such stringency decreases the utility of the procedure. What are needed are new approaches to an old problem. Novel strategies under evaluation include enhanced imaging modalities for lymph node metastases, neoadjuvant chemotherapy/radiation therapy, and more liberal use of immediate salvage resection for high-risk pathologic features. Molecular profiling of tumors with genetic markers and better integration of traditional and gene-targeted systemic therapy are promising approaches for the future. This review of the literature evaluates the recent successes and failures of local excision of rectal cancer and provides a current perspective on the expanded use of local excision without compromising care.     

A meat and potato war: implications for cancer etiology

Cooking foods clearly has a beneficial impact for humans; the microbial content can be decreased, proteins made more digestible and the flavor and texture improved. But at the same time, amino acids, creatine and sugars, which occur naturally in meats, may be involved in reactions that generate heterocyclic amine (HA) carcinogens during cooking. Recently, another amine carcinogen, acrylamide, was found at relatively high levels in cooked carbohydrate-rich foods, especially potatoes. In this commentary acrylamide will be compared with the meat carcinogens (HAs) with respect to formation, human intake and health consequences--it's a meat and potato war. What conclusion about risks from these dietary carcinogens can we make from the available scientific data?