Perspectives in 2019

In this Perspectives article, the authors outline the preclinical and clinical evidence for epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) in cancer progression and metastasis, focusing on recent challenges and controversies, and highlight strategies to therapeutically target the EMP process.

This Opinion discusses the effects of dietary factors on tumour growth and progression through changes in nutrient availability and metabolism, proposing an experimental framework for the investigation of the connections between diet and tumour metabolism.

To date, very few actionable tumour-specific antigens (TSAs) have been identified that have successfully translated into therapeutic cancer vaccines. This Opinion article provides both examples of TSAs alternative to the traditional single-nucleotide variant neoantigens and details about the novel computational tools used to identify them, with the view to broaden the number of targetable antigens that can be used for cancer vaccine development.

This Opinion article provides an overview of the mechanisms that regulate sensitivity to ferroptosis in cancer cells and how the modulation of metabolic pathways controlling ferroptosis might reshape the tumour niche, leading to an immunosuppressive microenvironment that promotes tumour progression.

For any given cancer type, there are patients who have exceptionally favourable or atypically poor responses to treatment and overall survival. This Opinion article outlines approaches to identify and study these patients at the extremes of the spectrum with a view to gain insights that will be applicable to the wider patient population.

The implementation of screening tests for certain cancers has led to the phenomenon of overdiagnosis, whereby a cancer is diagnosed that would otherwise not go on to cause symptoms or death. This Opinion article discusses the effects of overdiagnosis and emerging strategies to reduce overdiagnosis of indolent cancers through an understanding of tumour biology and the tumour microenvironment.

This Opinion discusses three different mechanisms by which high-dose vitamin C can be selectively toxic to cancer cells. These findings from preclinical studies will be beneficial for the design of clinical trials testing high-dose vitamin C as an anticancer therapy.

This Opinion, written by many leading experts in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) research, proposes a new model of SCLC subtypes defined by differential expression of four key transcription regulators. Such classification should help to focus and accelerate therapeutic research.

The existence of extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) in cancer was first described decades ago, but recent reports of oncogene amplification on ecDNA have reinvigorated interest in this field. This Perspectives article discusses the potential implications of oncogene amplification on ecDNA in cancer.