By Nadia Drake

SAN FRANCISCO — Ever since US president Richard Nixon declared war on cancer in 1971, scientists and physicians have launched a full-on offensive against the disease, seeking to cure cancer by eradicating the multiplying enemy cells. But, with few exceptions, treatments haven’t lived up to expectations.

“We’ve been banging our heads against this cure thing for three, four decades now and really made almost zero progress,” says Carlo Maley, a cancer researcher at the University of California–San Francisco (UCSF). “It’s been a wash.”

Now, Maley and others suggest that applying the principles of evolutionary biology to cancer research could do what that the existing paradigm has missed—and the idea is gaining traction. At the first biannual international Evolution and Cancer Conference, held here during the first weekend in June, around 125 scientists met to discuss how considering fields not typically associated with cancer—including evolutionary dynamics, comparative biology and even social psychology—might help turn the tide in the fight against the deadly disease.

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