Summary of Key Points Phase I trials to determine recommended doses and schedules for further testing of new treatments need to be designed to minimize the number of patients exposed to unacceptable toxicity. The use of formal interim monitoring of…
Summary of Key Points The process of conducting cancer research must change in the face of prohibitive costs and limited patient resources. Biostatistics has a tremendous impact on the level of science in cancer research, especially in the design and…
Summary of Key Points Noninvasive medical imaging often is essential to cancer management at multiple times in the course of the illness. Imaging currently is used for screening to detect cancer, characterizing lesions, performing locoregional and systemic staging, providing prognostic…
Summary of Key Points Biomarker development has profoundly affected basic understanding of carcinogenesis and expanded means of intervention in human cancers. Biomarkers have been applied with variable success in three broad areas that correspond to phases of tumor development and…
Summary of Key Points A root cause of cancer is the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic defects in key cellular pathways regulating proliferation, differentiation, and death. The defects in cancer cells are of two types: gain-of-function alterations affecting oncogenes, and…
Summary of Key Points The discovery of inherited mutations of genes associated with increased risk for cancer provides important clinical opportunities for early detection and prevention of common and rare forms of human malignancies. Syndromes of cancer predisposition often involve…
Summary of Key Points More than 15% of human cancers are known today to be caused by viruses. A hallmark of virally induced cancers is that they are associated with persistent viral infections. Although some viruses encode oncogenes that directly…
Summary of Key Points DNA repair and the cellular response to DNA damage are critical for maintaining genomic stability. Defects in DNA repair or the response to DNA damage encountered from endogenous or external sources results in an increased rate…
Summary of Key Points Current Concepts in Carcinogenesis A key paradigm in environmental carcinogenesis—that of gene-environment interactions, a concept used to describe the complex interplay between individual or population genetics and responses to chemical agents—has undergone an expansive transformation into…
Summary of Key Points Metabolism supports biosynthesis, energetics, and cell signaling including chromatin state and epigenetics. A common feature of each element of malignancy is the necessity to adapt metabolic functions. Altered metabolism in key metabolic pathways and networks is…