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Technological advances in optical coherence tomography (OCT) have enabled this imaging tool to be used to characterize various aspects of tumour biology in vivo. This Innovation article discusses the distinguishing features of OCT, its successful preclinical applications and its potential for clinical adoption.
Bacterial therapies have many advantages over standard cancer therapies — they specifically target tumours, induce controllable cytotoxicity and can be externally detected. This Innovation article proposes that synthetic biology can be applied to bacterial therapies and can tune their beneficial features, allowing the engineering of 'perfect' cancer therapies.
Combining image analysis with mass spectrometry techniques provides new possibilities for molecular pathology. What are the applications of imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI)?
Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for women in developing countries. This Perspective discusses how recent advances in optical technologies can improve the accuracy and availability of cervical cancer screening.
The Mouse Tumor Biology database seeks to facilitate the researcher's access to the ever increasing amount of data now being published using mouse models of cancer. Why is this database important and how does it relate to similar databases within the cancer research community?
Irreversible covalent inhibitors equipped with reporter groups allow the study of target enzymes based on catalytic activity instead of expression level. This Perspective discusses the design and use of such probes directed at the ubiquitin–proteasome system. Can they identify new cancer therapies that target this system?
The Connectivity Map database aims to connect diseases with the genes that cause them and drugs that could treat them. How does this new resource work, and how can it be used by the cancer research community?
The recent finding that the induction of cellular senescence is associated with the premalignant stages of tumour progression indicates that markers of senescence might prove to be useful diagnostic and prognostic tools. This article presents some of the more promising candidates.
Flow cytometry can be used to map signalling networks in individual cancer cells. This form of 'single-cell proteomics' can reveal important new information about the pathways that are activated in therapy-resistant cells and provide biomarkers for use in diagnosis and determining prognosis.