Editor's note: February 4 is World Cancer Day, an initiative launched in 2000 to unite global efforts and accelerate progress against the disease. As treatment methods evolve, humanity's anti-cancer tools have become more precise, intelligent and human-centered. CGTN spoke with Dr Mikkael Sekeres, chief of hematology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Health System, about the latest advances in this fight.

Cancer has become one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with rates rising over the past four decades. Despite this, the world has made little progress in the fight against it. 

The term cancer defines a group of diseases where the body's own cells begin to grow and multiply uncontrollably, spreading into and damaging healthy tissues. 

Recent years have seen AI technologies rapidly transitioning from research labs into clinical settings, changing cancer diagnosis and treatment by enhancing speed, accuracy and personalization. The latest AI in oncology is shifting from single-task image analysis to integrated, multi-modal systems that combine imaging, genomics and clinical data. The technology is maturing from a detection aid into an essential component of precision prevention and early interception.

When it comes to treatment, the primary aim is to eliminate cancer cells to achieve a cure, or otherwise control the development of the disease and alleviate symptoms, all while prioritizing the patient's quality of life.

Most patients receive a combination of treatments, such as surgery paired with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The first step in this multi-modal approach is to remove tumor tissues, followed by chemotherapy (often called chemo), which uses drugs to kill cancer cells, and radiation therapy, which delivers high doses of rays to shrink tumors.

The revolution of cancer treatment

Cancer cells grow by uncontrollably copying themselves. "The revolution we have seen, particularly in the past two decades, has been identifying the genetics of those cancer cells, and then developing drugs that focus just on those genetics and disrupt how the cell works," said Mikkael Sekeres, chief of hematology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Health System.

According to Sekeres, targeted therapy and immunotherapy are the latest breakthroughs in treating cancer. Targeted therapy targets proteins that control how cancer cells grow, divide and spread. It is the foundation of precision medicine. As researchers learn more about the DNA changes and proteins that drive cancer, they are better able to design treatments that target these proteins.

Immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy that helps the patient's own immune system recognize and fight cancer cells. "When cancer cells grow and divide, it's our immune system's job to recognize that they are abnormal cells and pluck them out of our body and get rid of them. You can think of cancer development almost as a deficiency of the immune system. We now give drugs that use the immune system to fight those cancer cells and get rid of them," said Sekeres.

Taking the CAR-T cell therapy for example, Sekeres said it is a type of personalized immunotherapy that engineers a patient's own immune cells to fight the disease.

T cell is a type of white blood cell crucial for the immune response. The first step of CAR-T cell therapy involves extracting T cells from the patient's blood. In a specialized lab, these cells are then genetically modified so that they can recognize and hunt down the cancer cells once they are put back in the patient's body. It's a powerful treatment for patients with blood cancers.

However, these advanced treatment methods face challenges like severe side effects, risk of relapse and high costs. The key still lies in prevention.

Preventing cancer with lifestyle choices

Up to four in ten cancer cases worldwide could be prevented, according to a new global analysis from the World Health Organization and its International Agency for Research on Cancer. The study examines 30 preventable causes, including tobacco, alcohol, high body mass index and physical inactivity.

Released ahead of World Cancer Day, the analysis estimates that 37 percent of all new cancer cases in 2022, around 7.1 million, were linked to preventable causes. 

According to Sekeres, the top proactive steps to help reduce the risk of cancer are avoiding smoking and drinking alcohol.

"Smoking is related to a dozen different types of cancers, and it's unequivocally related to cancer such as lung cancer, head and neck cancer and bladder cancer," he said, adding that it can also be related to breast cancer and leukemia.

Sekeres noted that obesity poses a high risk factor for a variety of cancers, including breast cancer and colon cancer. "Exercising prevents some cancers, lowers the risk of those cancers, and even if people get cancer, if they exercise, it turns out they have better survival than people who don't exercise after a cancer diagnosis," said Sekeres.