January 1999

Editor's Note: In this issue, The Scientist focuses on the status of cancer research in the United States. The articles below and on pages 6-9 present glimpses of the latest advances. The article beginning at right describes how cancer and AIDS research are related. The article on page 10 offers a look at thyroid cancer treatments from the perspectives of patient and scientist. Commentary (12) and Opinion (13) are by prominent cancer experts. Profession (14-15) assesses the outlook for cancer

AIDS has commandeered media headlines, instigated public awareness, and garnered funding in more profound ways than any other disease in history. Bolstered by a tenacious activist community, HIV/AIDS research has blazed trails empirically, politically, and even philosophically. Since this disease took hold some 15 years ago, new insights and understanding in immunology, cytokine biology, antiviral research, vaccine development, and gene therapy have emerged from HIV/AIDS research laboratories a

If many epilepsy sufferers remain refractory to current therapies, it isn't for a lack of research and development effort. Presentations at the recent annual meeting of the professional American Epilepsy Society (AES) in San Diego described a spate of novel medications, advances in imaging technology, new surgery techniques, and the promising early results of a clinical trial using xenotransplantation. But the question remains: Will research finally dispel the stubborn mysteries of epilepsy tha

p53 has emerged as one of the top targets in the war against cancer.

In the last two months of 1998, the National Cancer Institute announced seven new initiatives set to cost a total of $343 million over the next five years: As part of a new report entitled The National Cancer Institute Tobacco Research Implementation Plan, Priorities for Tobacco Research Beyond the Year 2000, two initiatives, the "Transdisciplinary Tobacco Research Centers" and "Research in State and Community Tobacco Control Interventions" programs, will be funded at $142 million over five y

Even the most commonly mutated tumor suppressor genes, such as p53 and Rb, malfunction in only about half of all tumor types. However, excess telomerase appears in all major cancers. So why don't more pharmaceutical strategies exist to block the enzyme that, in excess, dictates cells to divide ad infinitum? The answer may be twofold, Serge Lichtsteiner, a researcher at Menlo Park, Calif.-based Geron Corp., reported during an interview following his presentation at a recent New York Academy of

Protein structure information from X-ray crystallography and bioinformatics has given biochemists a potentially potent anticancer target: specific segments of DNA's double helix. But, as a group of biochemists at a fall conference sponsored by the National Foundation for Cancer Research agreed, knowing the structure of proteins and protein complexes that bind to DNA segments and turn genes off and on may be only half the battle. Proteins or large synthetic molecules should, in theory, be able t

Editor's Note: Contributing Editor Ricki Lewis was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1993 and had standard treatment. She will be taking a recently approved test this summer and hopes to participate in the clinical trial of another, both discussed below. Michael Levine When a lump in the neck turns out to be thyroid cancer, many doctors announce, "If you had to get cancer, this is the one to get." Fortunately, treatment is straightforward and effective, but follow-up testing can be uncomfort

The NCI Cooperative Breast Cancer Tissue Resource can provide researchers with access to more than 9,000 cases of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded primary breast cancer tissues, with associated pathology and clinical data. Tissue and data area available from patients treated in four diverse geographic areas of the United States. Tissue sections are prespared to meet the criteria of individual research protocols. All specimens are reviewed to verify the pathological diagnosis. Clinical data inc

We have harnessed the power of new technologies to identify genes involved in the development of cancers and forever change how we think about these diseases.

Illustration: A. Canamucio The ethos of our science was articulated by Leonardo da Vinci 500 years ago: "A bird is an instrument working according to mathematical law." This replaced the medieval mystical view that it was the soul of the bird that embodied the nature of flight. How beautifully the work honored recently by the Lasker Awards mirrors that transition.1 The work of Peter C. Nowell, Janet D. Rowley, and Alfred G. Knudson replaced the mystical soul of the cancer cell with the instrum

Joan Massague Joan Massague, chairman of cell biology and genetics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, affirms that translational and multidisciplinary science is expanding rapidly. "It's become apparent that the entire field is related to cell and molecular biology and genetics; but it's time to bring all the patient knowledge to fruition," he said. The Human Genome Project may have created thousands of positions in basic gene science, he continues. However, today's investigators "

The Scientist 13[2]:18, Jan. 18, 1999

NUNC™ Brand EasY Flask from Nalge Nunc Designing the next generation of cell culture flasks would seem a difficult task. How can one improve upon a rather standard laboratory technology? Nalge Nunc International Corporation (a subsidiary of Sybron International) has answered that question with the new NUNC™ Brand EasY Flask product line, which incorporates three new design features: a large-aperture neck opening, allowing greater access to the growth surface; a quick-turn mechanism

The Scientist 13[2]:19, Jan. 18, 1999

DISEASE RESEARCH SUPPORT In response to a perceived need for increased clinical research funding, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation recently established the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award Program. The Foundation will give $600,000 a year for five years to four research teams studying either cancer, AIDS, heart disease, or sickle cell anemia and related blood disorders. According to Alan Altschuler, the Foundation's acting program director for medical research, the clinic