Fighting Fire with Fire in Cancer

Abstract

Cancer will not be cured until we understand and target the unique alterations that distinguish tumor cells from normal cells. This chapter briefly describes four new approaches to anticancer therapy based on boosting the immune system’s response to tumor cells, countering the metabolic adaptations that allow tumor cells to thrive under conditions that kill normal cells, manipulating the increased oxidative stress associated with the tumor environment, and exploiting the aneuploidy characteristic of many advanced tumor cells. The long-term goal is to devise biomarkers and novel therapeutic agents able to more effectively fight aggressive cancers.