A revolutionary way of targeting tumours could beat even the worst cancers
New Scientist · Alice Klein ·
We have long treated cancer based on its location in the body. But a whole new approach that analyses tumours differently is now helping people survive forms of cancer that were once considered a death sentence
Stephen Huff was about to get married when he had a scan to investigate why he had been feeling short of breath. He was a fit 29-year-old who had played professional baseball and never smoked, so he wasn’t expecting the diagnosis: stage 4 lung cancer. “I had multiple spots all in my lungs, my neck, my spine, my liver, my brain – just everywhere,” he says. “I put on a brave front, but deep down I was terrified. I didn’t know if I’d be here in six months.”
Luckily for Huff, his mother, a cancer researcher, encouraged him to get a new kind of test that is quietly revolutionising treatment. Rather than focusing on the place in the body where the cancer originated – for example, the lungs, bowel or skin – the new approach focuses on genes. The aim is to pinpoint the exact mutation driving the tumour, so it can be switched off with targeted drugs that act like guided missiles.
Through this fresh approach, Huff “hit the lottery” – as his oncologist told him – because it meant he could be treated with a recently approved drug that specifically targeted the genetic alteration driving his cancer. Within weeks, Huff began to feel better. “My first scan showed that basically every tumour site had either shrunk or gone away completely,” he says.
Read the full story at New Scientist · All coverage of this story