Envisioning the Future of Cancer Science and Medicine Unprecedented breakthroughs in cancer science and medicine, some of which are covered in this report, have accelerated the pace of progress against cancer. Thanks to decades of research-fueled fundamental discoveries and clinical advances, cancer mortality rates have decreased by 33 percent in the past three decades, and more cancer survivors are living fuller and longer lives. Cancer researchers, including the AACR president, 20232024, Philip D. Greenberg, MD, FAACR, p. 144, are confident that this progress will continue to advance the frontiers of cancer science and medicine for the benefit of patients with cancer. Researchers across the nation’s cancer centers are also extremely hopeful that the newly established AACR Cancer Centers Alliance will serve as a catalyst to fostering innovative and synergistic collaborations that address the many hurdles currently facing the nation’s cancer centers and accelerate transformative lifesaving scientific discoveries for patients with cancer. Revolutionizing Cancer Science and Medicine These are exciting times as technological innovations continue to advance the frontiers of cancer science and medicine and accelerate the pace of progress against cancer. Within just two decades of the publication of the human genome, researchers have devised revolutionary new ways to study cancer in real time at single cell and single molecule levels. Knowledge gleaned from these in-depth observations is providing exciting new opportunities to detect, treat, and manage cancer. This section highlights some of the breakthrough technological advances that are moving the field of cancer science and medicine into a new era of progress against cancer. New Frontiers in Cancer Research Discovery science has played a pivotal role in progress against cancer, as documented in this and the prior 12 editions of the annual AACR Cancer Progress Report. Researchers are continually working to devise new ways to study unresolved mysteries of cancer, some of which are described below. Spatial transcriptomics, or the study of transcriptomes (see RNA Variations, p. 31) at the single cell level in intact tissue, allows researchers to examine how cancer cells change during the course of cancer progression (663). While studying the transcriptome of a single cell is not a new approach (664), spatial transcriptomics takes this approach to the next level because it helps examine cells in the tumor or normal tissue where they are naturally located, thus minimizing any molecular changes that may occur during the process of isolating cells from a tumor or normal tissue. In recent years, researchers have employed spatial transcriptomics to answer some of the most elusive questions in cancer research, such as characterizing treatment responses (665), tracking tumor evolution (666), mapping and targeting the tumor microenvironment (667), and delineating tumor heterogeneity (668). IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL LEARN: ⚫ Innovative technologies are enabling a deeper understanding of cancer at a single cell and single molecule level. ⚫ Artificial intelligence is poised to revolutionize cancer research and patient care. ⚫ Wearable technologies have immense potential to improve health outcomes for patients with cancer. ⚫ In-depth understanding of cancer biology is fueling progress in treating intractable cancers, such as glioblastoma multiforme and pancreatic cancer. ⚫ Modulating the human microbiome is the next frontier in cancer therapeutics. continued on page 146 Envisioning the Future of Cancer Science and Medicine AACR Cancer Progress Report 2023 143
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