The past, present, and way forward for cancer drug development

A brand new editorial paper was published in Oncoscience (Volume 10) on August 17, 2023, entitled, “Cancer drug development yesterday, today and tomorrow.” On this latest editorial, researchers Elzbieta Izbicka and Robert T. Streeper from Latest Frontier Labs discuss the history of cancer drug development and the way it has evolved over time. The editorial also highlights the present state of cancer drug development and what the long run may hold.

Editorial Introduction:

The “war on cancer” began with the National Cancer Act, a United States federal law intended “to amend the Public Health Service Act in order to strengthen the National Cancer Institute as a way to more effectively perform the national effort against cancer” that was signed by President Richard Nixon on December 23, 1971. Because the fiftieth anniversary is now two years gone, the war has not been necessarily a blitzkrieg. To paraphrase Charles Dickens, today “it’s the most effective of times, it’s the worst of times” for cancer drugs. Great progress in cancer therapy has been made because of the combined impact of higher supportive care, ever improving drugs and earlier cancer detection.

“Then again, the Anthropocene era brings latest challenges as a consequence of increased human impact of environmental aspects, which together with changes in food regimen and lifestyle may contribute to a worrisome increase in early-onset cancers, a situation viewed as a possible emerging global epidemic.”