New research conducted by Harvard scientists is laying out a road map to one of the holy grails of modern medicine: a cure for cancer. As described in a paper recently published in eLife, Martin Nowak, a professor of mathematics and of biology and director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, and co-author Ivana Bozic, a postdoctoral fellow in mathematics, show that, under certain conditions, using two drugs in a "targeted therapy" - a treatment approach designed to interrupt cancer's ability to grow and spread - could effectively cure nearly all cancers.

The AIDS virus can be used to treat two severe hereditary diseases. After an Italian scientist's "stroke of genius" in 1996, and after years of promising results in the laboratory, double official recognition by one of the most important international scientific journals has now arrived. And six children from all over the world, after three years of treatment, are well and show significant benefits.

Physicians and patients who are wary of addiction to pain medication and opioids may soon have a healthier and more natural alternative. A Duke University study revealed that a derivative of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), a main ingredient of over-the-counter fish oil supplements, can sooth and prevent neuropathic pain caused by injuries to the sensory system. The results appear online in the Annals of Neurology.

Physicists from the University of York have carried out new research into how the heating effect of an experimental cancer treatment works. Magnetic hyperthermia is viewed as an attractive approach for the treatment of certain cancers as it has no known side effects compared to more conventional therapies such as chemotherapy. It is particularly suitable for the treatment of prostate cancer and brain tumours.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered that a human antiviral enzyme causes DNA mutations that lead to several forms of cancer. The discovery, reported in the July 14 issue of Nature Genetics, follows the team's earlier finding that the enzyme, called APOBEC3B, is responsible for more than half of breast cancer cases. The previous study was published in Nature in February.

Silencing genes that have malfunctioned is an important approach for treating diseases such as cancer and heart disease. One effective approach is to deliver drugs made from small molecules of ribonucleic acid, or RNA, which are used to inhibit gene expression. The drugs, in essence, mimic a natural process called RNA interference.

Researchers have discovered the genetic processes that cause specific types of bowel cancer. Using this knowledge, they identified cancer drugs that target these genes. Their findings offer the opportunity to develop personalised treatment based on a person's genetic profile. More than one million people develop bowel cancer each year, which is one of the most common causes of death in cancer patients.