nature insight: Cancer

Cancer
Vol. 411, No. 6835 (17 May 2001).
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Cover illustration
Frequent occurrence of chromosomal aberrations visualized by spectral karyotyping in human lymphocytes irradiated with 4 Gy of ionizing radiation.
(Image courtesy of H. B. Beverloo and J. J. Boei, MGC, Rotterdam/Leiden)

Cancer is an umbrella term covering a plethora of conditions characterized by unscheduled and uncontrolled cellular proliferation. As the average age in many countries steadily rises, so do cancer-related deaths, so that cancer will be one of the most common causes of death in the 21st century. Almost any mammalian organ and cell type can succumb to oncogenic transformation, giving rise to a bewildering array of clinical outcomes.

The causes of cancer are many and varied, and include genetic predisposition, environmental influences, infectious agents and ageing. These transform normal cells into cancerous ones by derailing a wide spectrum of regulatory and downstream effector pathways. It is just this complexity that has hampered the development of effective and specific cancer therapies.

Any attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of cancer-related knowledge would be futile — there are around 1.3 million cancer-related Medline entries. We have therefore focused on topics undergoing particularly rapid progress, and aimed to provide a balanced picture of the diverse disciplines associated with cancer research. The articles represent particular highlights selected by the editors and authors. Exclusion of important science does not constitute a value judgement.

A further port of call for those interested in cancer-related research is Nature Reviews Cancer.

We hope that you will share our excitement on reading these articles, which epitomize how diverse and dynamic cancer research is at the start of the 21st century.

Bernd Pulverer Senior Editor

All of the articles in this Insight are free to registered users of Nature's web site. Registration is a simple process which should take only a few minutes to complete. You can sign up here.