Modern medicine has made incredible advances, more than doubling human life expectancy from that of our early hominid ancestors. The world of medical research still faces many challenges, however, and perhaps none is as universal as the fight against cancer.

Cancer describes the unmoderated cell growth of any region in the body and is generally the result of prolonged genetic mutation. Sadly, while there are precautions that can reduce cancer risk, given a long enough lifespan, most people will eventually be affected by cancer in some form. The fight against cancer is a cause that everyone, regardless of nationality, socioeconomic status, race, gender and age can rally behind, and modern medicine is leading the charge. While much of modern cancer screening and treatment has remained the same for the last few decades, there are some emerging technologies that could radically enhance our ability to manage this disease in the years to come.

Cancer detection and treatment has been documented since at least 1500 B.C.E., when Egyptian physicians described surgical treatment of tumors of the breast through cauterization. While Hippocrates theorized that bloodletting and proper diet could ward off cancer, most early treatment methods were limited to surgical excision of observed, external tumors.

The advent of modern microscopy led to several major discoveries, including the ability to accurately perform a biopsy, which greatly improved tumor excision success. In 1863 Rudolf Virchow correctly deduced that cancer was not only made up of malignant cells, but could spread from cell to cell, and in 1890, David von Hansemann demonstrated that cancer cells had abnormal amounts of chromatin, predicting a genetic abnormality.

Wilhelm Röntgen invented the X-ray in 1895, which greatly aided in tumor detection, particularly for internal tumors. It was further discovered as early as 1899 that X-rays could kill tumors as well, and thus, modern radiation therapy was born. Modern chemotherapy emerged as an accidental discovery following a mustard gas attack during World War II in 1943, when doctors noticed that the white blood cells of soldiers were severely depleted. Doctors theorized that chemical agents could be used to combat tumor cells like white blood cells, and so from a terrible wartime barbarity, chemotherapy was born. A large portion of modern cancer treatment relies on surgical excision, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

There are several methods of cancer treatment currently being researched that could hold great promise for the future. John Kanzius was not a cancer researcher, but rather a radio operator and engineer who developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Spurred on by his own disease, Kanzius built on his knowledge of radio waves to develop a system that specifically targets cancer cells, allowing healthy cells to survive.

One of the perils of all three aforementioned procedures is that it is very hard to make them specific: while they can be successful in removing the cancer, they can also have strong adverse effects on surrounding tissue. Kanzius developed a procedure that localized gold nanoparticles to a tumor site, and then selectively heated just the gold nanoparticles using radio waves, causing the surrounding tumor site to die, but sparing healthy tissue. The system was successfully tested in 2005, and human testing may begin soon. While Kanzius sadly died following chemotherapy last year, his ingenuity lives on and may one day save many more from his fate.

The pursuit of treatment continues. In 2007, researchers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands turned to an unlikely ally to battle cancer: bacteria. Using the knowledge that tumor cells generally have low access to oxygen, Dr. Jan Theys engineered Clostridium novyi, an anaerobic bacteria of the same genus as tetanus and botulism, to help selectively destroy tumor cells. Dr. Theys’ clostridia, far from causing lockjaw, mature only around tumor cells, and by altering the clostridia genes to secrete anti-cancer agents, the Dutch researchers were able to use them to selectively destroy just the cancer cells, leaving healthy cells intact. This technique is particularly effective as conventional chemotherapy can be ineffective in oxygen-depleted cells. This technique is expected to enter early clinical trials shortly.

Stanford has led the way in the field of stem cell research since its advent, most notably by first isolating human stem cells in 1991. Stem cell research has been intimately tied with cancer research from the beginning, and soon after, a method to treat cancer was developed in which, after cancerous cells were destroyed, healthy stem cells were transplanted into a patient’s bone marrow to help regrow new cells. The Stanford Cancer Center, and particularly, the Ludwig Center for Cancer Stem Cell Research and Medicine, is currently investigating methods to identify cancer stem cells, and thus ways to combat cancer at the source.

Unlike polio or small pox, which can be remedied with a single vaccine, cancer encompasses a host of conditions that kill almost 8 million people a year. There are a number of promising new techniques being developed that could aid in the fight against cancer in the coming years and help to bring that number down. One day, maybe through the efforts of many of you reading this, we will prevail.

For a more human side of cancer, visit kesem.stanford.edu. Camp Kesem makes Jack’s day: [email protected].