multicolor DNA sequencing gel
Genetic Mutations Can Be Benign or Cancerous—a New Method to Differentiate Between Them Could Lead to Better Treatments
Tumors contain thousands of genetic changes, but only a few are actually cancer-causing. A quicker way to identify these driver mutations could lead to more targeted cancer treatments.
ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, FILO
Genetic Mutations Can Be Benign or Cancerous—a New Method to Differentiate Between Them Could Lead to Better Treatments
Genetic Mutations Can Be Benign or Cancerous—a New Method to Differentiate Between Them Could Lead to Better Treatments

Tumors contain thousands of genetic changes, but only a few are actually cancer-causing. A quicker way to identify these driver mutations could lead to more targeted cancer treatments.

Tumors contain thousands of genetic changes, but only a few are actually cancer-causing. A quicker way to identify these driver mutations could lead to more targeted cancer treatments.

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, FILO
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cancer research

Man in lab coat sitting at a lab bench looking at small, stoppered beaker.
Cancer Researcher Donald Pinkel Dies at Age 95
Natalia Mesa | Mar 18, 2022
Unsatisfied by how treatments for childhood leukemia failed to prevent the disease’s return, Pinkel combined them all—and virtually cured the disease.
Salmonella (pink) invading a human epithelial cell (yellow)
Modified Salmonella Revs Immune Response, Combats Tumors in Mice
Natalia Mesa | Feb 3, 2022
When coated with positively charged particles, the bacteria shuttled antigens out of tumors and activated the immune system, a study finds.
Human DNA stock photo
Setting Better Traps for PARP Inhibitors
The Scientist Creative Services Team, BPS Bioscience | Apr 19, 2022
An innovative assay permits researchers to screen for small molecule PARP inhibitors that trap the enzyme on DNA and selectively execute cancer cells.
Photo of older woman dressed in blue smiling and looking at the camera
Cancer Researcher Beatrice Mintz Dies at 100
Natalia Mesa | Jan 20, 2022
Mintz’s experiments over her six-decade career were foundational to cancer and genetics research.
black-and-white image of an open mouth
The Common Mouth Microbe That Keeps Popping Up in Tumors
David Adam | Dec 15, 2021
Lab studies link the oral bacteria Fusobacterium nucleatum to cancers from the gut to the head and neck. Could targeting the microbe tackle tumors?
Enhancing the Efficacy of CAR-T Cell Therapies
The Scientist Creative Services Team in Collaboration with IsoPlexis | Jun 29, 2021
Jessica Morris will discuss strategies to improve CAR-T cell targeting, activation, and killing capabilities.
A compilation of several images, including a dog, a blind mole rat, and cell micrographs
Our Favorite Cancer Stories of 2021
Amanda Heidt | Dec 9, 2021
This year revealed just how much scientists have learned about the disease, from how animals become naturally cancer-resistant to how tumor cells harness extracellular DNA to develop rapid drug resistance.
blind mole rat
Blind Mole Rats Use Junk DNA to Combat Cancer
Ruth Williams | Sep 30, 2021
Activation of retrotransposons in the animals’ cancerous cells sets off an innate immune response that triggers cell death.
Best of Cancer Research
The Scientist Creative Services Team | Sep 23, 2020
This collection of articles from The Scientist explores some of the latest cancer research!
a leopard gecko with an unusually yellow body
“Lemon Frost” Leopard Geckos’ Cancers Similar to Human Melanomas
Christie Wilcox | Jun 24, 2021
The color morph’s bright yellow hue and its propensity for skin tumors both likely stem from a gene implicated in a dangerous form of human skin cancer, suggesting the animals could make an ideal model for studying the disease.
A tasmanian devil with its nose in the air
Deadly Facial Tumors Spur Tasmanian Devil Evolution: Study
Christie Wilcox | Jun 16, 2021
The largest study to date of the animals’ genetics provides robust evidence that they are adapting to survive a highly lethal, contagious cancer scientists feared would cause their extinction.
Genetic and Spatial Heterogeneity in Human Papillomavirus-Associated Oropharyngeal Cancer
The Scientist Creative Services Team | Aug 20, 2020
Joseph Powell will discuss how heterogeneous subpopulations of HPV+ head and neck cancer cells drive unique disease states, cell-cell interactions, and microenvironment dynamics, and have implications for cancer behavior, metastasis, and response to treatment.   
breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, chemotherapy, cancer, cancer risk, women's health, oncology
Heart Attack Elevates Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence: Study
Amanda Heidt | Jul 13, 2020
Mice that experienced heart attacks underwent a large-scale shift in their immune systems that allowed cancer to flourish, perhaps explaining the observation in patients.
Italian Institute Revokes Appointment of Cancer Researcher
Catherine Offord | Jul 7, 2020
Pier Paolo Pandolfi left Harvard University last year following allegations of sexual harassment, and has since been accused of research misconduct.
Paul Marks, Past President of MSKCC, Dies
Catherine Offord | May 8, 2020
A cancer researcher with a talent for leadership, Marks turned the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center into one of the world’s foremost oncology research institutions.
an illustration of dividing cancer cells
Cancer Drugs in Development May Be Targeting Wrong Proteins
Shawna Williams | Sep 12, 2019
A study of 11 drugs now in clinical trials suggests they do kill cancer cells—but through a different mechanism than indicated in previous research.
Henry Lynch obituary cancer genetics hereditary syndrome breast ovarian
Henry Lynch, Leader in Cancer Genetics, Dies
Chia-Yi Hou | Jun 7, 2019
The Creighton University researcher discovered the genetic basis of hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome.
national cancer institute nci funding grants nanotechnology centers
National Cancer Institute Will Stop Funding Nanotechnology Centers
Chia-Yi Hou | May 20, 2019
The Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence were established in 2005 through several phases of funding, which are reported to end next year.
Past President of the AACR, Waun Ki Hong, Dies
Carolyn Wilke | Jan 7, 2019
The former head of cancer medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center helped change clinical practice for laryngeal cancer and helped establish chemoprevention.