As Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr supposedly said, “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” In this magazine, we highlight several areas of investigation likely to shape future research conducted in CCR.
Nature has generated an astonishing array of molecules with diverse forms and functions. New technologies will make it possible to explore the immense richness of chemicals found in natural sources to discover tomorrow’s nature-derived cancer drugs.
Surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and targeted therapies have been standard treatments for cancer. A revolutionary wave of cancer treatments that use patients’ own cells as drugs will permanently change how we treat the disease.
Nearly one-third of patients diagnosed with cancer have a rare tumor. New research into the subject will lead to much-needed treatments for patients with rare tumors and shed light on how to treat subsets of more common cancers.
Clinical trials have traditionally been vital to advancing cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Innovative new trial designs offer the opportunity to reach conclusive results faster, explore multiple treatment modalities and increase the diversity of patient cohorts towards developing treatments that benefit all patients.
Understanding the fundamentals of how cancer cells form and proliferate has been crucial to cancer treatment and prevention. New areas of basic research will lead to better outcomes for patients.
RNA, once thought of as a simple go-between from DNA to protein, is now recognized as one of biology’s most versatile molecules. Interrogating the RNA biology of cancer will uncover new diagnostic and treatment strategies.
The microbiome, trillions of microorganisms that intermingle with each person’s cells, influences human biology in ways we barely understand. Incorporating how it contributes to cancer development and prevention will lead to a more complete understanding of cancer.
The metabolism of cancer cells differs markedly from that of healthy cells. It is now becoming clear that these differences may be a driving force of cancer cells. This insight will lead to new approaches to disrupt cancers cells’ metabolic pathways.
What makes one person more likely to get cancer than another? Why do some cancers occur more frequently in some groups of people? Understanding the molecular basis of cancer susceptibility remains one of the holy grails of cancer research and will improve the ability to prevent and treat cancer.
Modern biomedical research and clinical care generate more data than ever. These records are creating rich datasets, which can be mined with new artificial intelligence and machine learning tools for diagnoses, prediction of treatment outcomes and design of new treatment strategies.
Bioengineering is an interdisciplinary endeavor that promises breakthrough innovations in cancer research. Bioengineering approaches will lead to the development of new agents for diagnosis and new methods for drug delivery as well as advanced techniques for tissue growth in vivo and in vitro.
