Cancer research driven by cutting-edge multi-disciplinary technologies

Cancer is a serious threat to human life and health. It has become the leading cause of death worldwide. According to the National Cancer Center 2019 National Cancer Report, there were about 4 million new cases of cancer in China in 2015, and 8 people were diagnosed with cancer and 5 people died of cancer every minute. Currently, cancer remains a major threat to human health in China and is associated with a high mortality rate. While great efforts have been devoted to the development of cancer therapies, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, most cancer therapies fail to achieve satisfactory efficacy, which is closely related to the lack of understanding of tumors in modern science, absence of major breakthroughs in the field of cancer research using key cutting-edge technologies, and limited translation and application of the achievements of basic research findings. Cancer represents a collection of multi-origin and multi-step systemic chronic diseases with various outcomes. The high heterogeneity of cancer poses a challenge for traditional therapeutic approaches to treat one type of tumor with the same method but provides opportunities to promote personalized therapies, including immunotherapy and targeted therapy. To promote original and innovative cancer research in China, it is essential to take advantage of modern genetic technology, stem cell technology, molecular imaging technology, molecular diagnosis, bioinformatics, innovative drug development, physical and chemical research methods, and alternative cutting-edge technologies, combined with extensive clinical data and patient population in China. For these reasons, the National Natural Science Foundation of China organized the 223rd Shuangqing Forum titled “Cancer Research Driven by Cutting-edge Multi-disciplinary Technologies”. Forty-five scholars from more than 30 universities and research institutes in China were invited to participate in this forum, and summarized the current status and trend in cancer research, especially the role of cutting-edge technologies in promoting cancer research, the key future research directions, and key scientific challenges. Based on the discussion of forum participants, this review highlights the current status, progress, challenges, and opportunities of cancer research in China, and presents the achievement and importance of multi-disciplinary technologies in driving cancer research and developing cancer therapy and diagnostics. It also summarizes the key scientific questions in the cancer research field for the next 5 to 10 years, and proposes strategies to fund cutting-edge technologies in exploring cancer research in China.