After decades of hope and hype, this year saw the coming of age of the 鈥渕agic
bullet鈥 approach to cancer. Glivec, the first 鈥渟mall molecule鈥 cancer therapy,
got the fastest US approval of any cancer drug in history for treating a rare
leukaemia. It proved successful against a stomach cancer, too, and to complete a
busy year it has been granted a British licence. Glivec alone won鈥檛 be a miracle
cure for cancer. But with at least six other Glivec-like drugs in trials, each
aimed at a different kind of cancer, it won鈥檛 be long before doctors can tailor
treatments to each patient.
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