Why it is critical
Oncology is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In this area, scientific research is the key tool for better understanding the disease and developing increasingly effective therapies against complex diseases such as cancer.
Thanks to advances in research, cancer is less scary today: many patients live with the disease for a long time or achieve recovery even in forms once considered incurable. Major innovations introduced include molecular targeted therapies,immunotherapy, and CAR-T cell therapies, which make immune cells capable of recognizing and attacking cancer cells.
Research is not just in laboratories: patients can participate in clinical trials(or clinical trials), which provide safe access to innovative drugs and treatments before they are officially approved. Each stage of research is conducted in full compliance with transparency, ethics and scientific rules, under the supervision of the relevant authorities.
At least five types of cancer research can be distinguished, based on the goals pursued and the type of experiments conducted.
Epidemiological research
Epidemiological research in oncology studies the distribution, frequency, and determinants of cancers in a population, with the aim of identifying risk factors, assessing the effectiveness of prevention and early diagnosis, and planning cancer control strategies.
It can pursue several objectives:
-
Identify risk factors: determine the causes of cancer, such as exposure to tobacco smoke, carcinogenic agents, and other factors related to lifestyle and habits.
-
Assess prevention and early detection: measure the effectiveness of screening programmes and other preventive strategies for the early diagnosis of cancer.
-
Plan interventions: provide the evidence base to design targeted public health interventions to reduce cancer incidence, such as anti-smoking campaigns or environmental protection measures.
-
Analyse public health impact: understand the impact of cancer on the population, including social and healthcare costs.
Basic research
Basic research (also known as pure or fundamental research) is experimental or theoretical work aimed at expanding scientific knowledge, without an immediate therapeutic goal.
In medicine, it represents the starting point for all discoveries, as it investigates the mechanisms underlying how cells function and how biological processes work, often using biochemical, physical, or cellular models.
In oncology, basic research has made it possible to identify the genetic alterations responsible for the uncontrolled growth of tumour cells—the so-called molecular targets—which have led to many of the most innovative therapies available today.
Often, studies originally conducted for other purposes yield unexpected discoveries that open up new therapeutic perspectives.
Preclinical research
Preclinical research takes place before testing in humans and is carried out to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of new molecules or therapies.
Any substance with potential therapeutic activity is first tested in vitro (in cell cultures) and then in vivo (in animal models) to study its effects in a complex organism.
This phase makes it possible to understand how a molecule is absorbed, distributed, metabolised, and eliminated, and to define its toxicity and the most suitable route of administration.
Tests must be conducted in accordance with strict international standards—Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)—to ensure reliable results that can be used as the basis for clinical studies in humans.
Translational Research
Translational research is the entire process that moves from a basic scientific discovery to its clinical application, and it often includes the preclinical phase.
Its goal is to transform findings from basic research into clinically useful applications for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer—a pathway often summarised by the phrase “from bench to bedside”.
This type of research helps reduce the time that typically elapses between a scientific discovery and its practical use in medicine. While basic research can generate new knowledge rapidly, translating those findings into effective therapies may take years. Translational research accelerates this process, enabling continuous updating of therapeutic strategies and the timelier introduction of innovative approaches into clinical practice.
A key feature is its bidirectional nature: patients are not only the end point of new therapies, but also a valuable source of information for research. Clinical observations, responses to treatment, and patients’ unmet needs can generate new hypotheses and guide researchers toward further studies and trials.
Translational research requires close collaboration between laboratory scientists and clinicians to turn scientific results into tangible benefits for patients
Clinical research
Clinical research studies and evaluates, in humans, the effectiveness and safety of new diagnostic procedures or therapies. It falls into two main categories:
- Observational studies, which collect data on interventions already used in clinical practice in order to analyse their effects.
- Experimental (interventional) studies, which assess new therapies, drugs, or devices to determine whether they work, whether they are safe, and whether they offer advantages over existing treatments.
Every clinical study involves patients who take part voluntarily, after signing an informed consent form, which protects privacy and ensures a free and informed choice.
According to guidance from AIFA (Italian Medicines Agency), clinical research is conducted in four main phases:
- Phase 1: initial assessment of a drug’s safety and tolerability in a limited number of healthy volunteers or patients.
- Phase 2: evaluation of therapeutic activity and determination of the optimal dosage in a small group of patients. When possible, a placebo—a substance with no therapeutic effect—is also used to compare results and objectively assess the effect of the investigational drug.
- Phase 3: confirmation of treatment effectiveness in a larger number of patients, often through randomised controlled clinical trials, in which participants are randomly assigned to receive either the new drug or a comparator treatment. This method provides scientifically reliable results while minimising potential bias.
- Phase 4: post-approval monitoring (post-marketing surveillance) to collect data on long-term effects and on the drug’s use in the general population.