Cancer research

Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure.

Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate and compare applications of the various cancer treatments. These applications include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy and combined treatment modalities such as chemo-radiotherapy. Starting in the mid-1990s, the emphasis in clinical cancer research shifted towards therapies derived from biotechnology research, such as cancer immunotherapy and gene therapy.

Cancer research is done in academia, research institutes, and corporate environments, and is largely government funded.^{[citation needed]}

History

Cancer research has been ongoing for centuries. Early research focused on the causes of cancer.^[1] Percivall Pott identified the first environmental trigger (chimney soot) for cancer in 1775 and cigarette smoking was identified as a cause of lung cancer in 1950. Early cancer treatment focused on improving surgical techniques for removing tumors. Radiation therapy took hold in the 1900s. Chemotherapeutics were developed and refined throughout the 20th century.

The U.S. declared a "

Seminal papers

Some of the most highly cited and most influential research reports include:

• The Hallmarks of Cancer, published in 2000, and Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation, published in 2011, by Douglas Hanahan and Robert Weinberg. Together, these articles have been cited in over 30,000 published papers.

Types of research

Cancer research encompasses a variety of types and interdisciplinary areas of research. Scientists involved in cancer research may be trained in areas such as chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, medical physics, epidemiology, and biomedical engineering. Research performed on a foundational level is referred to as basic research and is intended to clarify scientific principles and mechanisms. Translational research aims to elucidate mechanisms of cancer development and progression and transform basic scientific findings into concepts that can be applicable to the treatment and prevention of cancer. Clinical research is devoted to the development of pharmaceuticals, surgical procedures, and medical technologies for the eventual treatment of patients.

Prevention and epidemiology

Epidemiologic analysis indicates that at least 35% of all cancer deaths in the world could now be avoided by primary prevention.^[3] According to a newer GBD systematic analysis, in 2019, ~44% of all cancer deaths – or ~4.5 M deaths or ~105 million lost disability-adjusted life years – were due to known clearly preventable risk factors, led by smoking, alcohol use and high BMI.^[4]

However, one 2015 study suggested that between ~70% and ~90% of cancers are due to environmental factors and therefore potentially preventable.^{[5][contradictory]} Furthermore, it is estimated that with further research cancer death rates could be reduced by 70% around the world even without the development of any new therapies.^[3] Cancer prevention research receives only 2 to 9% of global cancer research funding,^[3] albeit many of the options for prevention are already well-known without further cancer-specific research but are not reflected in economics and policy. Mutational signatures of various cancers, for example, could reveal further causes of cancer and support causal attribution.^{[6][additional citation(s) needed]}

Detection

Prompt detection of cancer is important, since it is usually more difficult to treat in later stages. Accurate detection of cancer is also important because false positives can cause harm from unnecessary medical procedures. Some screening protocols are currently not accurate (such as

]

For example:

• Multimodal learning AI systems are being developed to help detect many cancer types via integrating different types of data.^[7][8]
• Scientists work on identifying and measurability of novel biomarkers or sets of such to detect cancer early, such as tumor-associated mycobiomes and bacterial microbiomes^{[9][10][11][further explanation needed][additional citation(s) needed]}
• Researchers investigate whether ants could be used as biosensors to detect cancer via urine^{[12][additional citation(s) needed]}

Treatment

Emerging topics of cancer treatment research include:

• Anti-cancer vaccines
  • Oncophage^[13]
  • Sipuleucel-T (Provenge) is a prostate cancer vaccine
  • Inactivated tumor cells are investigated as potential bifunctional cancer vaccines^[14]
• Newer forms of chemotherapy
• Gene therapy^[15][16][17]
• Photodynamic therapy
• Radiation therapy
• Reoviridae
  (Reolysin drug therapy)
• Targeted therapy
• Medical microbots (including bacterial),^[18][19] nanobots^[20] and bacterial 'cyborg cells'^{[21][additional citation(s) needed]}
• Virotherapy^[22][23]
• Antibodies^{[24][25][26][27][additional citation(s) needed}
  ]
• brain cancer)^{[28][29][additional citation(s) needed}
  ]
• Natural killer cells can induce immunological memory.^[30] Research is being developed to modify their action against cancer.^[30]
• How treatments can best be combined (in
  combination therapies)^[31]

Cause and development of cancer

Research into the cause of cancer involves many different disciplines including genetics, diet, environmental factors (i.e. chemical

). In regard to investigation of causes and potential targets for therapy, the route used starts with data obtained from clinical observations, enters basic research, and, once convincing and independently confirmed results are obtained, proceeds with clinical research, involving appropriately designed trials on consenting human subjects, with the aim to test safety and efficiency of the therapeutic intervention method. An important part of basic research is characterization of the potential mechanisms of carcinogenesis, in regard to the types of genetic and epigenetic changes that are associated with cancer development. The mouse is often used as a mammalian model for manipulation of the function of genes that play a role in tumor formation, while basic aspects of tumor initiation, such as mutagenesis, are assayed on cultures of bacteria and mammalian cells.

Genes involved in cancer

The goal of

These large scale projects, involving about 350 different types of cancer, have identified ~130,000

.

Several hereditary factors can increase the chance of cancer-causing mutations, including the activation of oncogenes or the inhibition of tumor suppressor genes. The functions of various onco- and tumor suppressor genes can be disrupted at different stages of tumor progression. Mutations in such genes can be used to classify the malignancy of a tumor.

In later stages, tumors can develop a resistance to cancer treatment. The identification of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes is important to understand tumor progression and treatment success. The role of a given gene in cancer progression may vary tremendously, depending on the stage and type of cancer involved.^[34]

Cancer epigenetics

Cancer growth

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2022)

Diet and cancer

Periods of

Research funding

Cancer research is funded by government grants, charitable foundations and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.^[84]

In the early 2000s, most funding for cancer research came from taxpayers and charities, rather than from corporations. In the US, less than 30% of all cancer research was funded by commercial researchers such as pharmaceutical companies.^[85] Per capita, public spending on cancer research by taxpayers and charities in the US was five times as much in 2002–03 as public spending by taxpayers and charities in the 15 countries that were full members of the European Union.^[85] As a percentage of GDP, the non-commercial funding of cancer research in the US was four times the amount dedicated to cancer research in Europe.^[85] Half of Europe's non-commercial cancer research is funded by charitable organizations.^[85]

The National Cancer Institute is the major funding institution in the United States. In the 2016 fiscal year, the NCI funded $5.2 billion in cancer research.^[86]

Difficulties

Difficulties inherent to cancer research are shared with many types of

.

Cancer research processes have been criticised. These include, especially in the US, for the financial resources and positions required to conduct research. Other consequences of competition for research resources appear to be a substantial number of research publications whose results cannot be

Replicability

Public participation

Distributed computing

One can share computer time for distributed cancer research projects like

Project, which uses distributed computing via an app on cellphones to perform cancer research.

Clinical trials

Members of the public can also join clinical trials as healthy control subjects or for methods of cancer detection.

There could be software and data-related procedures that increase participation in trials and make them faster and less expensive. One

Organizations

Organizations exist as associations for scientists participating in cancer research, such as the American Association for Cancer Research and American Society of Clinical Oncology, and as foundations for public awareness or raising funds for cancer research, such as Relay For Life and the American Cancer Society.

Awareness campaigns

Supporters of different types of cancer have adopted different colored

, or the selling of ordinary products turned pink as a promotion for the company.

See also

• .cancerresearch
• Exposome

References

External links

• Cancer Genome Anatomy Project @ The NIH
• The Integrative Cancer Biology Program @ National Cancer Institute