From the President
Like any complicated undertaking, the effort to defeat cancer can be difficult to grasp in its entirety. But the complexity of the process means that opportunities for improvement are almost limitless.
The articles in this issue of Paths of Progress are a case in point. Cancer is such a multifaceted opponent that overcoming it requires innovative thinking at every level of the research and patient-care process. Scientists need to understand not only the genetic impulses that drive tumor growth but also lifestyle and environmental factors that influence cancer risk. They must find the earliest traces of cancer's presence in the body so the disease can be treated at its most vulnerable stage, and they're at work on therapies that single out cancer cells for destruction. On these and many other fronts where the war on cancer is waged, there is a call to discover more, eliminate outmoded barriers, find new applications for knowledge, and put novel ideas to the test.
In this edition you will read about Dana-Farber's efforts in several of these areas. One story describes how Institute researchers are refining the traditional process of cancer drug development to make it more responsive and efficient. Another recounts the search for biomarkers for ovarian cancer detection. There is a piece on the burgeoning field of epigenetics – the master "switchboard" for gene activity – while others describe the latest findings on the relation of metabolism, diet, and lifestyle to cancer risk.
We often say that quality improvement is a way of life at Dana-Farber. In this issue, you will see that philosophy in action.
Edward J. Benz Jr., MD
President, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
