Breathtaking progress against cancer but challenges remain

CHICAGO, June 1 (AFP): Cancer researchers say major progress is being made against a malady that kills more than seven million people worldwide each year, but funding is short and many challenges remain.
Convincing people to eat healthy, exercise and quit smoking could drastically cut back on many preventable cancers, and a host of environmental factors that may lead to cancer have yet to be solved by science, experts say.
Still, researchers gathered at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual conference here said there is plenty of cause for optimism.
This year's event, ASCO's 50th, brings together 30,000 doctors, researchers and pharmaceutical agents from around the world.
"Scientifically the field of oncology has never been more exciting," said Clifford Hudis, president of ASCO.
He cited new targeted therapies that take aim at the cellular functions of tumors, leading to progress against some difficult to treat cancers. Also, immunotherapy is an exciting field that uses a patient's own immune system to attack tumors, and is showing promise against melanoma, leukemia, and a handful of other cancers.
"We have made incredible progress in 50 years," said Jyoti Patel, a cancer specialist at Northwestern University.
"What has been very exciting in the past several decades is the understanding of the biology of cancer, an effort of working together to catalogue the make-up and the molecular aberrations that distinguish cancer," Patel told AFP.