the cell itself. No single drug inhibiting one step within a network of converging molecular processes will be sufficient to "cure cancer," but as our understanding and analysis of individual tumors improve, we will be increasingly
effective at treating a range of these devastating diseases.
While there are limits to the aggressiveness with which we treat cancer in
animals, it is clear that many of our current treatment options are combinations of drugs that kill all dividing cells, but fail to eliminate transformed cells,
which regrow all too rapidly. Real cures will entail more specific treatments,
and a just-over-the-horizon range of immunotherapeutics, targeted kinase inhibitors, and gene silencers will considerably expand the oncologist's options
in the coming years. Moreover, information that emerges from spontaneous
tumors in animals provides an outstanding opportunity to understand the
complex genetics underlying tumor development in people, where the genetic diversity of individuals is a barrier to gene discovery. Cornell's prioritization and investments in cancer research recognize these opportunities to
transform the treatment of neoplasia in animals and people.
The answers will not come easily, but the possibility of a future where
cancer is increasingly controlled—as the articles in this issue of 'Scopes demonstrate—surely exists.
Cordially,
Michael I. Kotlikoff, VMD, PhD
Austin O. Hooey
Dean of Veterinary Medicine
