Reviews & Analysis

In this Opinion article, Donnemet al. outline the evidence for non-angiogenic tumours, which use pre-existing blood vessels to support tumour growth, and discuss the studies that are beginning to define their unique biology.

The abscopal effect, which is the regression of metastatic cancer at distant sites during radiotherapy, is somewhat rare but can be promoted by immunotherapy. This Opinion article describes emerging concepts and limitations of using a combination of radiotherapy and immunotherapy to boost the abscopal effect.

Improved therapies have allowed many patients with cancer to achieve complete remission, but they retain minimal residual disease (MRD), which causes relapse. This Opinion article argues that iterative detection, profiling and targeting of MRD could improve outcomes, including cure rates.

Stem cells are long-lived and possess unique mechanisms related to quiescence, DNA damage response and apoptosis that protect them throughout their lifespan and during tissue repair. These mechanisms may also have a role in cancer stem cells and tumorigenesis.

Recent studies have suggested that autoimmunity checkpoints (AICs) are fully functional in B cell leukaemias and lymphomas, despite malignant transformation. This Opinion article proposes that targeted engagement of AICs might represent a therapeutic opportunity to overcome drug resistance in B cell malignancies.

Differentiation therapy has shown great success in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL). This Opinion article discusses the molecular basis for the success of APL treatment and the potential of drug-induced tumour cell differentiation in other malignancies.

Causal associations have been established between dysregulated ribosome biogenesis and cancer. In this Opinion article, the authors highlight emerging mechanistic data on the molecular basis of ribosomes in cancer and offer their perspective on how these advances present therapeutic opportunities.

Emerging data indicate that exercise modulates cancer biology and disease outcomes; however, the molecular mechanisms are poorly established. In this Opinion article, the authors speculate on how exercise might reprogramme the tumour microenvironment to influence cancer hallmarks.

In this Opinion article, Baslan and Hicks discuss how single-cell sequencing could be used to advance our understanding of tumour biology and genetics, in addition to translational applications in the clinic.

This Opinion article discusses recent studies that have provided new insights into the mechanisms of common fragile site instability and the resulting genomic effects, which include the generation of focal copy number alterations that affect the genomic landscape of many cancers.

This Perspective discusses some of the causes of the robustness and reproducibility problem in preclinical cancer research and suggests solutions.

In this Opinion article, Schneideret al. outline tissue- and cell type-specific differences in tumorigenesis and the organization of oncogenic signalling pathways, and discuss the implications of our understanding of tissue context on molecularly targeted therapy and clinical trial design.

This Opinion article focuses on the trends and progress being made in identifying protein biomarker signatures of clinical utility in cancer using, in particular, blood-based proteomics.

This Opinion article discusses progress and challenges in using patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models in cancer precision medicine. It is primarily co-authored by members of the EurOPDX Consortium and as such highlights the merits of shared PDX resources.

This Opinion article discusses the recurring regulatory architecture that is both necessary and sufficient to maintain tumour cell state. Considering this architecture provides a valuable reductionist framework to study the genetic heterogeneity of human disease and to drive key translational applications.

This Opinion article discusses the various migration modes used by cancer cells in confining microenvironments and explains how understanding confined cancer cell motilityin vivo through the application of engineered in vitromodels could help to develop therapeutic approaches to prevent metastases.

Ovarian cancer comprises a broad range of histologically and genetically different tumours. In this Opinion article, Karneziset al. explore the different origins of ovarian cancers and how these contribute to our understanding of genetic and environmental risk to better prevent and treat these tumours.

This Opinion article discusses many controversial issues surrounding the connections of progestogens, which stimulate the progesterone receptor, to breast cancer risk and their possible therapeutic use in breast cancer.

In this Opinion article, the authors propose that the function of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) in maintaining, rather than specifying, transcriptional repression can explain its seemingly contradictory roles in cancer.

Apoptotic cell death undoubtedly has beneficial roles in cancer, but paradoxically, apoptosis can also cause unwanted effects that could promote cancer. This Opinion article highlights some of the ways in which apoptosis can exert oncogenic functions.