Posts by tag
cancer research
Rewriting RAS: A New Targeted Option on the Horizon for Pancreatic Cancer
Metastatic pancreatic cancer remains one of the most treatment-refractory solid tumours in oncology. Despite multiple incremental refinements over the past decade, first-line therapy continues to rely on cytotoxic chemotherapy, most commonly FOLFIRINOX or gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel, with limited change in…
Immunotherapy’s Hidden Burden: Rethinking Toxicity in the Era of Breakthroughs
Immunotherapy has redefined cancer care—offering survival where little once existed, and in some cases, the possibility of long-term remission. But as its use expands across tumor types and earlier lines of treatment, a more complex reality is coming into focus:…
A Survivor’s Perspective: San Diego’s Rise as a National Cancer Research Hub
How policy, philanthropy, and scientific collaboration are reshaping the cancer research landscape and why early detection can be the difference between life and death. Twenty years ago, I received a diagnosis that changed everything and led me to dedicate the…
“Between the Checkpoints of Life, Take the Immunobuddies with You” —Professor Ricky Dylan Frazer
The conversation starts with a small detail that quickly becomes memorable. There is no coffee. On a podcast built around conversations over coffee, Professor Ricky Dylan Frazer, Consultant Medical Oncologist at Velindre Cancer Centre, Deputy CEO of the Immuno-Oncology Clinical…
Charles Balch Treated Thousands of Patients. He Says That’s Not His Greatest Work.
If you try to list everything Charles Balch has done, you quickly realize the list does not help you understand the man. He has led some of the most important institutions in oncology. He has built systems that are now…
CancerWorld #115 (May 2026)
In oncology, progress is measured in survival rates, response curves, and treatment gains. But those numbers rest on a quieter assumption: that health systems can deliver what science makes possible. When they cannot, progress becomes uneven—not in discovery, but in…
CancerWorld | The Max Foundation – Special Issue 2026
25 Years of TKIs in CML: A Revolution and a Responsibility Twenty-five years ago, the arrival of imatinib changed the course of a disease and the lives of countless people diagnosed with it. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), once defined by…
“Medicine is Deeply Relational: The Human Heart of Oncology in the Age of AI”
From genetics to palliative care, clinician-scientist Rita Canário reflects on building a career in Oncology that bridges research, patient care, and the human side of medicine and why this integration is essential for the future of oncology. “I was never…
CancerWorld #114 (April 2026)
In oncology, we are trained to deliver hope alongside difficult truths. We speak about survival rates, probabilities, and outcomes. In conflict settings, those terms lose stability. What does survival mean when hospitals are destroyed, treatments cannot reach patients, and people…
The Day Immunotherapy Went Off-Patent
In oncology, some milestones arrive with applause. Others arrive quietly. This year, one of the most important cancer drugs of the modern era begins to lose its monopoly. Nivolumab, one of the first PD-1 inhibitors to reach patients, is set…