The important thing is that the cancer cell, in and of itself, has a very deregulated system so the FAK protein can make the cell go wild when it's inappropriately active.

Basically the major point is that we're trying to understand what enables melanoma tumor cells to move out from the initial primary tumor to another site in the body, because once that happens melanoma tends to become very difficult to treat and the five-year survival rate drops considerably.

FAK has been shown for a lot of different types of cancers to play a role in the tumor cells' ability to move within the body and set up shop, so I think targeting it to reduce the risk of melanoma metastasizing is a very exciting idea. But this is in its very early infancy as a therapy.

Tobacco use after cancer diagnosis has now become the elephant in the room, a huge issue in oncology that many in the field are ignoring.

This demonstrates that the diagnosis of cancer is a wake-up call to many patients, one which demands our support if we want to provide the best outcomes possible.

Most injuries heal in time, but guilt is a cancer that knows where to hide.