Cancer's most consistent enemy in the clinic is resistance. A therapy that controls a tumor for months eventually stops working as cancer cells evolve to evade it. But what if the solution lies not in finding a more powerful drug, but in changing the timing of how existing drugs are used?
Research published July 22, 2026, in the journal Genetics by Dr. Robert Noble and colleagues at City St George's, University of London, applies mathematical tools borrowed from evolutionary biology to the problem of cancer treatment timing. The models suggest that switching between multiple therapies before a tumor begins to regrow, rather than after resistance has already established itself, could significantly outperform the current standard approach of treating at maximum tolerated dose until failure.
