A major sea change

There is a sea change underway in the treatment of cancer, and the key to this has been the arrival of new types of drugs - drugs that work in different ways from traditional cancer chemotherapy. These new treatments use our increasing knowledge of the molecular biology of how cells work and how they communicate with one another. Some of these drugs, such as the monoclonal antibodies Avastin and Herceptin, are already here and licensed for use in specific circumstances. Many others are in the pipeline and are expected to enter the market over the next few years. An important feature of...