Tilghman is excited about the future of cancer research as we are close to being able to identify specific genes linked with specific types of cancer. This could lead to developing disease specific treatments as well as find ways to kill cancer cells without killing hundreds of other cells at the same time.

I think cancer research right now is at a very interesting place. If you think about what has happened over the last 25 years, it has largely been identifying the 100 to 200, maybe slightly more than that genes in the human genome that are involved one way or another in controlling growth. Because cancer is fundamentally a disease where growth is uncontrolled. The genes that are most important in understanding cancer are those growth control genes. And we’re getting close to what I think is probably a comprehensive list of those genes. The next step is identifying which genes are important in which kinds of cancer, and I think we’re making real progress there as well. Then comes the hard part, and the hard part is turning that knowledge into disease-specific cancer treatments. We have some early examples, success stories in this area. _________, which was developed for the treatment of breast cancer; _________, which was developed for the treatment of lymphoma. But I think there are going to be many, many more in the future. And what’s really exciting about those therapies is unlike those therapies that exist today, which are largely poisons – poisons that target dividing cells – these new therapies are very, very specific and target the cancer itself. And what that’s gonna mean is that those drugs are gonna be far more effective than the drugs we use today. And importantly, the quality of life of the patient is gonna be significantly better because you’re not killing off hundreds of other cells while you’re trying to kill the cancer cell. Recorded on: 8/7/07