Finally—Cancer News That's Making Us Optimistic

With new drugs and vaccines, as well as the innovative deployment of viruses to battle cancer cells, the treatment—and prevention—of cancer has radically transformed. Here are 6 breakthroughs helping us get a grip on cancer. (Make YOUR well-being a priority this year! Join Prevention and other leading minds in health & wellness for our annual R3 Summit.)
1. We're making mincemeat of melanoma.
The 5-year survival rate for those with late-stage melanoma was an abysmal 15 to 20%, until the recently approved drug Keytruda arrived. In one study, it improved survival by more than 30%—no small feat. Says David Leffell, chief of dermatologic surgery at Yale School of Medicine, "It's transformed the outlook for the disease."

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2. Black-hat bugs put on white hats.
Viruses can be reprogrammed to infect cancer cells while sparing normal ones—which is why the field of virotherapy is blowing up. A few that have been jury-rigged so far:
Herpes kills melanoma. More than 16% of patients treated with a genetically engineered derivative of herpes, called T-VEC, showed a response, compared with 2% of a control group that received an injection of an immune-boosting drug.
Measles kills multiple myeloma. When Mayo Clinic scientists gave patients a single IV dose of a tweaked measles virus (MV-NIS), their cancer shrank back. One patient has been in complete remission for over 6 months.
HIV kills leukemia. Deactivated HIV appears to put a common cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia into remission for some patients, per University of Pennsylvania researchers.
3. Prostate cancer has new enemies.
The largest genetic sequencing effort on prostate cancer to date, funded by Hollywood-powered cancer charity Stand Up To Cancer, turned up a vital fact: The female cancer genes BRCA1 and 2 play a role in metastatic prostate cancer, too. Trials are under way to test an effective BRCA-cancer drug on men with prostate cancer; early results are expected by December.
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4. Alarm bells have quieted for stages 0, 1, and 2 breast cancer.
While the current standard protocol for women diagnosed with DCIS (aka stage 0 breast cancer) is surgery and sometimes radiation, new research suggests that treatment doesn't make any difference in how long they live. Expect the watch-and-wait approach to gain support fast. Another new study found that women with early-stage breast cancer—up to and including stage 2—who undergo a shorter course of radiation have a better quality of life and fewer side effects. Other research has shown that this modified treatment yields comparable rates of recurrence and survival.
5. Cervical cancer will become a thing of the past.
The FDA has approved a new vaccine, Gardasil 9, that expands protection against the human papillomavirus (HPV), by far the leading cause of cervical and certain other cancers. It can shield users against nine strains of the virus, compared with the four covered by the regular Gardasil vaccine approved back in 2006. Based on current estimates, the expanded vax has the potential to prevent a whopping 90% of cervical, vulvar, vaginal, and anal cancers.
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6. We have one up on lung cancer.
New hope for treating America's deadliest cancer arrived recently when drugs Opdivo and Yervoy showed they could prolong lives with few side effects. In one study, patients on Opdivo had a 27% lower risk of death over 17 months than those on other chemo. In other research, the addition of Yervoy enhanced tumor reduction by 8%—a small amount that matters nonetheless.