Cancer cells within a single tumor are not all the same, that's why are cancer cells difficult to treat.

Not every cancer cell in a tumor will have the same genetic mutation as a neighboring cancer cell. This means that treatment can usually kill one type of cell in a tumor, while other cells survive after treatment, allowing the tumor to grow again.

Cancer, this word has been included in the most horrifying and unsolved mysteries of humankind and still haunts the entire medical industry and common people. Even with the advancements in tech, cancer remains a complex and multifaceted disease that can arise in various parts of the body. So how it happens? Cancer is a name given to certain cells within the body that begin to grow and divide uncontrollably. This forms a mass of abnormal tissue known as a tumor or cancer.

Treatment may eventually stop

Genetic mutations that cancer cells acquire over time mean that the cells change the way they behave. This can be a very difficult problem during treatment because mutations can cause cancer cells to become resistant to treatment over time, making it ineffective.

If this happens, the patient will have to be treated differently - but again, the cancer may become resistant to the new drugs. That's why we fund researchers like Maite Huarte, who is trying to figure out how to overcome this resistance.

Cancer cells are really good at surviving

Normal cells have certain mechanisms that prevent them from overgrowing or dividing. Cancer cells have lost these control mechanisms and can develop a range of tricks to avoid being killed.

That's why we fund researchers like Vincenzo Giambra, who aims to understand how cancer cells become such experts at survival.