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This Review discusses the importance of glycobiology in cancer research, given its role in cancer development and progression, and provides an overview of possible targets for diagnostic application and therapeutic strategies.
This Opinion describes the early interactions between immune cells and pre-neoplastic cells observed in translucent zebrafish andDrosophila melanogastermodels, and speculates on their potential implications in human cancer.
Cancer cells exhibit huge phenotypic plasticity, which can lead to adaptations to the tumour microenvironment and therapy. Much of this plasticity seems to be encoded in signal transduction networks, such that alterations in signalling dynamics can affect many cancer-associated phenotypes and therapeutic response.
Obesity is associated with increased (and occasionally decreased) risk of developing several types of cancer. This Review discusses the epidemiological evidence available for, and the possible mechanisms that might lead to, this altered risk.
Immunotherapy has undoubtedly become an effective treatment for many cancers, but how can we make the most of this approach? In this Review, Meleroet al. discuss how immune-targeted therapies can be synergistically combined to provide maximal benefit to patients.
In this Opinion article, Brocket al. analyse how intrinsic variability in gene expression in proliferating cells, as well as microenvironmental signals, can drive cells to transform into a neoplastic state or revert to a normalized state.
Although most cancers exhibit some degree of intratumour heterogeneity, we are far from understanding the dynamics that operate among subclonal populations within tumours. This Review discusses the growing evidence that cooperative behaviour of tumour subclones can influence disease progression.
This Review discusses what we have learned about the biology of rhabdomyosarcoma using various model systems, and how these models might be used to discover new targetable pathogenic mechanisms.
'Cellular senescence' has been broadened to describe durable states of proliferative arrest induced by disparate stress factors. This Review discusses the limitations of senescence-associated biomarkers and provides suggestions for how to improve the phenotypic description of senescence.
In this Review, Barker and colleagues describe the mechanisms of radioresistance that are mediated by the tumour stroma and explore how these mechanisms can be targeted to improve radiotherapy responses.
Inborn errors of metabolism are inherited monogenic disorders caused by mutations in genes encoding metabolic enzymes that can result in malignancy. This Opinion article discusses how studying these rare diseases might provide insight into how specific metabolic changes contribute to cancer initiation, development, diagnosis and treatment.
The CRISPR–Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats–CRISPR-associated 9) system provides many avenues for improving how we generate models of cancer. This system has numerous uses, including providing a means to understand the importance of genetic alterations as a tumour evolves, and CRISPR–Cas9 may potentially constitute a therapeutic strategy in the future.
Histone–lysineN-methyltransferase 2 (KMT2) family proteins, initially named the mixed lineage leukaemia (MLL) family, are altered in many types of cancers beyond MLL. Inhibitors of KMT2 function are being developed and could work as therapeutics in a variety of cancer types.
Since the Philadelphia chromosome was discovered in 1960, studies over the past six decades have identified fusion genes, oncogenes that provide great diagnostic and therapeutic advantages because of their tumour-specific expression. This Timeline article revisits the spectrum of gene fusions in cancer and how the methods to identify them have evolved, and also discusses the implications of current, sequencing-based approaches for detection.
How can we improve the design of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to treat cancer? In this Review, George J. Weiner discusses the characteristics of mAbs that can affect their efficacy, the current approaches that use mAbs in cancer treatment and the numerous ways to enhance the potential of these mAb-based techniques.
The microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis pathway is frequently altered in cancer, leading to global downregulation of miRNA levels in some cancer types. This Review discusses the alterations that affect miRNA biogenesis in cancer.
The modern manufacture of tumour-selective antibodies bearing tumour-killing radioactive cargo has effectively harnessed the power of the atom to safely destroy cancer cells. This Review presents fundamental concepts of chemistry, physics and biology that are essential for the effective radioimmunotherapy of human cancer.
DNA damage can result in replication stress, which is a source of genome instability and a feature of cancer cells. Revealing the molecular basis of replication stress is crucial to the understanding of tumorigenesis and may provide potential targets for cancer therapy.
This Review discusses the mechanisms underlying resistance to aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy of patients with oestrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, and also assesses the possible therapeutic options for overcoming AI resistance.
In this Viewpoint article, three scientists give their opinions on the generation and uses of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models and the future of this field.
