Part algae, part red blood cell, these microrobots can travel to hard-to-reach tumors deep in the lungs.
From Zhang et al., Sci. Adv. 10, eadn6157 (2024)
Monica Swahn, Kennesaw State University e Ritu Aneja, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Drinking alcohol is normalized in American society. But the ubiquity of alcohol consumption hides its serious health risks, including cancer.
Colon cancer symptoms usually don’t arise until later stages of the disease, making routine screening imperative for prevention.
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Cancer vaccines have gained much interest among scientists but face a number of hurdles. A new mRNA vaccine for glioma offers a step forward in training the immune system to fight cancer.
Identifying the most effective cancer treatment for a given patient from the get-go can help improve outcomes.
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Functional precision medicine works to take the guesswork out of deciding which drug to try next for patients with cancers that don’t respond to standard treatments.
Some cancer patients receive additional treatment after surgery with the goal of eliminating any remaining tumor cells.
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There are many approaches to treating cancer. Which ones work best is determined on an individual basis and informed by each tumor.
Nurturing hope among patients with cancer and their caregivers is possible and includes coping strategies and exploring realistic goals.
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Patients with incurable cancer want to be informed about their disease and its treatment, but must also maintain hope. This inner conflict can affect how they process information about their prognosis.
A proton therapy treatment room at a facility in Prague, Czech Republic. Canada lags behind other countries in providing this treatment.
(AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Proton beam therapy is a precise form of radiation that can reduce the side-effects of cancer treatment. It is available around the world, but not in Canada.
A cancer diagnosis is serious, but immediately starting treatment sometimes isn’t the best course of action.
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People with low-risk prostate cancer are more likely to die from something else. Overdiagnosis and overtreatment can lead to life-changing complications.
Advances in radiotherapy involve combining new technologies with clinical expertise.
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Radiotherapy takes many forms: from directing powerful high-energy beams toward specific areas of the body to placing radioactive seeds right next to tumors.
One of the advantages of mRNA is its scalability.
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From COVID-19 vaccines to cancer treatments and beyond, the flexibility of mRNA-based therapies gives them the potential to prevent and treat many types of diseases.
RNA is more than just a transitional state between DNA and protein.
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From math to evolutionary game theory, looking at cancer through different lenses can offer further insights on how to approach treatment resistance, metastasis and health disparities.
Cancer in children is often more invasive and aggressive than that of adults.
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Children typically haven’t accumulated enough cellular damage to develop cancer. Because their bodies are still developing, pediatric cancers differ from adult cancers in key ways.
Many patients with less aggressive prostate cancer elect active surveillance instead of treatment.
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Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men. Although watchful waiting is appropriate for low-risk cases, many are diagnosed at an advanced stage because of racial health disparities.
This microscopy image shows a cytotoxic T cell (blue) attacking a cancer cell (green) by releasing toxic chemicals (red).
Alex Ritter and Jennifer Lippincott Schwartz and Gillian Griffiths/National Institutes of Health via Flickr
T cells recognize and kill cancer cells but quickly lose their effectiveness. This fast dysfunction may help explain why immunotherapy doesn’t lead to long-term remission for many patients.
Most tumors are made up of many different kinds of cancer cells, as shown in this pancreatic cancer sample from a mouse.
Ravikanth Maddipati/Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania via National Cancer Institute
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to treating cancer. Understanding how cancer cells evolve could help researchers develop more effective drugs.
Psilocybin and other psychedelics could help patients process the challenges of a cancer diagnosis.
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Receiving a cancer diagnosis and undergoing cancer treatment can be a traumatizing experience. Psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin and MDMA could help alleviate symptoms from cancer-related PTSD.