Check your subscription status, update your details and more. A revolutionary way of targeting tumours could beat even the worst cancers 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 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.
But surprisingly, it has received little fanfare outside of the medical community so far. Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with _New Scientist_ events and special offers. #### Health ### Supercentenarians have hypervigilant immune systems that fight off cancer News #### Health ### From back pain to cancer, how the interstitium could transform medicine Features #### Health ### 5 things to know about sunscreen, according to a skin cancer expert Comment #### Health ### Why tending your oral microbiome is the secret to a long, healthy life Features Will we observe dark matter as a particle or a wave?### Do AIs already process information in a way that gives rise to consciousness?### Why the worst El Niño killed millions – and how we can avoid a repeat### OpenAI mistranslated mathematics into code for its Navier-Stokes proof### The Monte Verde controversy is back: who first lived in the Americas?### Can we harness the brain’s deep-cleaning system to prevent Alzheimer’s?### Impossibly fast-moving stars are revealing the Milky Way’s mysterious heart### AI’s solution to 87-year-old riddle takes mathematicians by surprise### ‘Astonishing’ weight loss when GLP-1 drug used with second medication### We’re finally learning what happens to gifted children in adulthood We and our partners use cookies and other technologies to collect user data .
Extract — continue reading at the source.
