Beyond molecular tumor heterogeneity: protein synthesis takes control

Ramon y Cajal, Santiago; Castellvi, Josep; Hümmer, Stefan; Peg, Vicente; Pelletier, Jerry; Sonenberg, Nahum

Owing to increased incidence, cancer is now the second most common cause of death in developed countries and the leading cause of death in individuals above 40 years of age [1] . The number of cancer-related deaths is expected to grow due to increases in life expectancy and lifestyle risk factors. Although current treatments have improved patient survival, the results remain dismal for advanced disease. For example, the 5-year survival rate is only 2% for stage IV lung cancer and 25% for breast cancer patients with metastatic disease [2] . In contrast, the 5-year survival of patients with in situ breast cancer exceeds 90%. Indeed, despite the development of a new arsenal of molecular targeted therapies over the last decade, patient survival with advanced cancer has improved by only 15% [1, 2] . One of the main reasons for these disappointing outcomes is the pervasive heterogeneous expression of drug targets within human tumors.