Skip to content Skip to navigation

​Jennifer Cochran: How “guided missiles” might be used to stop cancer

​Jennifer Cochran: How “guided missiles” might be used to stop cancer

​Stanford’s Russ Altman and Jennifer Cochran examine the recent “renaissance” in cancer treatment, which uses biochemical signals to target malignant cells throughout the body.
March 2, 2018
Illustration of target

New methods may aid us in treating cancer with greater precision and fewer side-effects. | Illustration by Drea Sullivan

For years, cancer treatment was limited to three strategies, each of them flawed in their own ways. One could cut it out with a scalpel, burn it out with radiation, or kill it with chemicals. Today, however, we are amid a “renaissance” in cancer treatment, says Jennifer Cochran, associate professor of bioengineering. We are expediting evolution and harnessing the immune system to create “guided missiles” that stop cancer dead in its tracks. On this episode of The Future of Everything radio show, Cochran and host, fellow bioengineer Russ Altman, explore the very latest in the science of cancer killing.