Five Things To Look Out For In Cancer Research In 2019

(Forbes) 2018 was a remarkable year for cancer research with great strides made in diagnosing and treating various types of cancer as well as important breakthroughs looking at the health of cancer survivors. What can we expect to see from cancer research in 2019? As a cancer research scientist here are the top five topics that Ill be looking out for. 1. Immunotherapy. Who will respond who wont respond and why? Immunotherapy is now seemingly everywhere with several therapies approved for various cancer types including CAR T-cells and immune checkpoint inhibitors and several more in development such as tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy. TILs successfully cleared all tumors from a woman with metastatic breast cancer in a research breakthrough which was one of the most reported in 2018. Over 2500 trials are now registered worldwide but as the use of immunotherapy grows there are still major questions to be answered. One particularly important to the use of immune-checkpoint blocking drugs such as those which target PD-1 or CTLA-4 is why do some patients respond whereas others do not? Several research teams worldwide are currently grappling with this question which is unlikely to have a single clear answer but I expect to see much more research published on this in 2019 which will hopefully start to benefit patients by identifying who will and wont respond to these expensive drugs.