Often, the war on cancer is not decided in a single battle. Even after prolonged treatment and recovery, in many patients the cancer returns. The reason for this is unknown, but one theory posits that a population of slowly-dividing cancer cells evades the treatment, eventually giving rise to new cancer. Weizmann Institute scientists used a technique which allows them to trace the “familial relations” of cells and showed that at least in a certain type of blood cancer, the source of the renewed growth was not ordinary cancer cells from the earlier bout. Rather, the cells were very close to the base of the cancer-lineage tree – cells that are immune to the attacks of the chemotherapy drugs yet were capable of recreating a population of rapidly dividing cancer cells. These results have practical implications for planning of effective treatment for diseases that resist conventional therapies.

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When certain genes become over- or underactive, the restraints on cell growth, reproduction and death are removed and this leads to cancer. But researchers attempting to identify specific genetic markers for a predisposition to cancer, or hoping to find a gene-based cure, have been largely disappointed. Weizmann Institute scientists decided to look outside the usual places – in a “gene desert” where the sequences do not code for proteins, but affect genes found elsewhere in the genome. After identifying thousands of genetic segments and examining their activity in living cells, the scientists were able to identify certain genetic changes that may lead to cancer, as well as finding some clues as to the gene these sequences affect.

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To help scientists find their way around the vast labyrinth of data on human genes – resulting from the sequencing of the human genome and other similar gene mapping projects – Weizmann Institute scientists developed a unique research tool, called GeneCards. GeneCards is an on-line database and software tool that provides information and statistics on all the genes found in the human body. The website attracts about half a million hits a month (as of 2010). The site is updated on an ongoing basis by software "robots" – intelligent computer programs that search relevant genomic databases and websites. Despite its great size, the information is organized in a user-friendly, easy to read format.

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