Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com). Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it exclusively produces is in the public domain. Scientists Say Cancer Research Has Made Major Advances ------------------------------------------------------ (http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=D710A3:3919ACA Some physicians who treat cancer are saying we've entered a new golden era of cancer research Some physicians who treat cancer are saying we've entered a new golden era of cancer research. They're upbeat about current research and new treatment options that are saving lives. Cancer, once considered a disease like many others, to be conquered and destroyed, is now more accurately understood as many diseases, characterized by uncontrolled cell growth.  While no one expects a cure for cancer in the next decade, some scientists say we've entered a golden era of cancer research and treatment.  Dr. Karen Antment, who directs cancer research at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington DC, is one of those who is optimistic. She points to three major advances: drug development, vaccine research and vast improvements in imaging and body scanning technologies. "Well, when I went to medical school 25 years ago we did operations in order to find out how far a cancer had extended.  Then something called CT scans came into being and you could get a pretty decent picture.  Then MRI's (magnetic resonate images) became even better for soft tissue, and now we have something called functional imaging where you can actually see the activity of the tumor in using up oxygen for example, and you can therefore, instead of seeing a shadow on an x-ray you can actually see the metabolism and therefore you can tell the difference between something that's a cancer and something that's a benign growth, which we couldn't do previously.  Now the next step is molecular imaging, we go from optical imaging, where you look with your eyes, to functional imaging where you can actually see the use, the energy use of a tissue, to molecular imaging where you can actually see which genes are turned on or off, and that will even be more precise.  That days on the horizon yes, so imaging has gotten better, you don't have to have operations anymore, you have a picture taken," says Dr. Antment. So why is cancer on the rise almost everywhere in the world? "You really have to watch the cancer mortality however, which gives you a much cleaner in point.  I think the incidence goes up, because people are getting increasing screening.  Screening has gotten improved for breast cancer, colon cancer, maybe psa, maybe psa for prostate cancer, ah and the treatments have gotten better, so mortality is actually dropping in the United States," explains Dr. Antment Cancer mortality rates are rising dramatically elsewhere.  Dr. Karen Antment says, "Well, probably the major explanation is that tobacco is becoming more common in the developing countries and their risk of dying of lung cancer is increasing substantially like ours did several decades ago." Dr. Karen AntmentPoorer nations have less screening and fewer treatment options, but in the west… "In the last two decades science has given us a critical amount of new information, and we now have a number of different pathways that can be targeted pretty precisely, and therefore the drugs are more effective, and the side effects are fewer," says Dr. Antment. In America 40% of those alive today will be diagnosed with some form of cancer and that number will climb to 60% by 2010. 64% percent of Americans diagnosed with cancer survive it, and that number would be much higher if they were screened and treated earlier.   Many thousands more could survive but thirty to fifty percent of people diagnosed with cancer never receive treatment.  Better screening means earlier diagnosis; means more treatment options.  Vaccines are becoming more effective against certain cancers, and the West is benefiting from a rapid development of better drugs with fewer side affects, and a new diagnostic tool called gene chip technology. "There are now chips where you can put down a few thousand genes in a tiny little area on a slide, and then you can drop a biological fluid, or piece of tumor onto that slide, and some of the genes will be increased in activity, and some of the genes will be decreased in activity if you compare cancer and normal adjacent tissue, and it's emerging that certain diseases such as breast cancer, that are treated with, breast cancers that are treated with hormones or lymphomas, you can predict better on the basis of which genes are activated or repressed than you can on the basis, of, ah, the kinds of medical things that we knew in the past, so gene chip technology is allowing us to tell a patient 'you're at high risk and therefore we're going to treat you more aggressively or, you're at low risk and therefore you don't need the side effects of being treated aggressively," says Dr. Antment. By focusing not on a cure for cancer but on better detection, and treatment, researchers are making outstanding progress in the war against cancer. .