Variety May Lead to Victory
As the pace of the battle against cancer quickens, here at USC/Norris we realize there is no one path to victory. We must combine better surgery with more efficacious drugs and keener insights into the molecular biology of life itself.
For example, brain tumors have proved especially difficult, with little progress over the past 30 years. But our team approach to combating these intractable tumors-a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and the application of special high-tech treatments such as the Gamma Knife-may yet prevail.
On the other hand, treatment of bladder cancer has progressed rapidly. Until the early 1980s, bladder cancer research was not a hot field, but that changed dramatically in the 1990s. Progress has been good ever since, and even bladder cancer patients who require removal of the bladder can now lead reasonably normal lives.
Central to this progress has been intensive research into the molecular biology of cancer. In bladder cancer, USC/Norris researchers are identifying genetic markers to pinpoint drugs most likely to be effective. For brain tumors, researchers are trying new ways to push drugs across the barrier that usually blocks foreign substances from the brain.
And then there are USC/Norris scientists like Ebrahim Zandi, who recently received a coveted Pew Scholars' award as one of America's outstanding young scientists. Zandi seeks to characterize the intricate web of events that unfolds inside cells when there is a call for action from the genes in the cell's nucleus, whether to execute a regular function, or to counter an emergency, such as an infection.
At USC/Norris, we believe that this variety of exquisite scientific
research-in concert with improvement of pharmaceuticals and better
medical treatments-are all required to attain victory against
cancer.
Sincerely,
- Peter A. Jones, Ph.D.
- Director
- USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Director