At present, tumor has become the primary enemy threatening human life and health, and its incidence is increasing year by year. By the end of the 20th century, the annual number of new tumor cases worldwide exceeded 10 million, and the annual number of deaths exceeded 7 million. Scientific and efficient prevention and treatment of cancer is a world-class problem and a strong desire and urgent demand of all human beings, and WHO advocates the active development of long-term national cancer control strategies. Scientists are also persistently exploring new anti-cancer methods, with the ultimate goal of putting cancer cells to death, so let’s review the various ways of death of cancer cells in past cancer research. 01.Targeting cell “biological clock” to kill cancer cells On January 5, 2015, cell biologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center targeted chromosome telomeres with a small molecule called 6-thiodG, which can use the cell’s “biological clock” to kill cancer cells. This small molecule uses the cell’s “biological clock” to kill cancer cells and reduce tumor growth. The related research results were published in the top international academic journal “Cancer Discovery”. 02.Killing cancer cells with viruses In 2014, PNAS published a key paper stating that Chinese scientists found that a natural virus called M1 can specifically kill cancer cells without harming normal cells. This new lysing virus is expected to be the next generation of anti-cancer weapon. The research was done independently by Yan Guangmei’s team at Sun Yat-sen Medical College of Sun Yat-sen University in China, and has full intellectual property rights. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine report that a virus that does not cause disease can kill triple-negative breast cancer cells and kill tumors that develop from these cells in mice. Understanding how this virus kills tumors may lead to new breast cancer treatments. Related findings were published in the June 2014 issue of Cancer Biology & Therapy. 03. Using CRISPR to edit HPV genes to kill cancer cells Duke University researchers used a genome editing tool called CRISPR to selectively destroy two viral genes responsible for the growth and existence of cervical cancer cells, thereby causing the cancer cells to self-destruct. Related findings were published in the Aug. 7, 2014, issue of the Journal of Virology. 04, genetic recombination of herpes virus specifically to kill cancer cells Italian researchers at the University of Bologna have recently recombined a herpes virus that specifically kills malignant tumor cells without harming healthy cells through biogenetic technology. Animal experiments have confirmed that the use of this virus to treat cancer has a certain effect. According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the herpes virus, after partial genetic recombination, can “recognize” an oncogene called HER-2 in malignant tumor cells and directly locate and kill tumor cells, avoiding damage to healthy cells in the body in other cancer therapies. 05.Killing cancer cells with genetically modified bacteria A new study proves that genetically modified Salmonella bacteria can kill cancer cells, which was published in the April 2015 issue of mBio, an open access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. 06. Killing cancer cells with plant extracts Researchers at the University of Minnesota have found that an extract of the herbal medicine thujaplicin (triptolide), thujaplicin (Tirpterygium wilforii), can inhibit GRP78, which ultimately leads to the death of pancreatic cancer cells. The related study results were published in the international journal AJP: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology. Researchers from the University of Washington have constructed a protein molecule called “BINDI” and demonstrated that it triggers cancer cells infected with EBV to self-destruct. This important research was published in the June 19, 2014 issue of Cell. 08. Making cancer cells “surrender” In April 2014, scientists at the University of Manchester found a new way to make cancer cells that had become resistant to chemotherapy drugs sensitive to them again. The study, published in Cell Reports, a division of Cell, could be used as a basis for developing drugs to solve the headache of cancer cell resistance. 09. Forcing cancer cells to commit suicide with drugs A team of researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) in the United States has discovered a new class of small molecule compounds that are good candidates for developing new targeted therapies for leukemia and lymphoma. This new class of compounds could force cancer cells to commit suicide, and the researchers published the findings in the January 2016 issue of the journal Cell Death and Disease. 10.Let cancer cells die by heat In December 2015, two academics from Portugal and Spain, tried to kill tumor cells by selective thermogenesis, they hope to establish a temperature gradient to destroy the cells’ biomolecules and initiate cell death. Current general methods of heat therapy are unable to ensure that cancer cells rise to a sufficient temperature while their surrounding tissues remain cold. The researchers constructed a nanoparticle that both heats the cells and detects the temperature. They are encased in magnetic nanoparticles that heat up when exposed to a magnetic field. Clinical trials have now shown that magnetic beads can be used to kill cancer by heating. 11.Let cancer cells kill each other In October 2015, scientists at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) discovered a rare human antibody that transforms leukemia cells into leukemia-resistant immune cells. The study, published this week in the journal PNAS, the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, opens up a whole new way to treat leukemia and could even be used to fight other cancers. In a new study published in the journal Nature CellBiology in September 2015, researchers at Spain’s National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) have now confirmed that blocking glycolysis in particular can disrupt cell division in cancer cells, specifically acting on this energy-based property combined with paclitaxel-like chemotherapy drugs can be effective in treating cancer. In recent decades, scientists have sought ways to kill tumor cells without affecting normal cells. Cancer chemotherapy, which began in the 1940s, has contributed to a greater understanding of cancer biology and the development of increasingly precise targeted therapies. While most of these approaches still target the abnormal proliferative behavior of cancer cells, a recent study has proposed a new anti-cancer target: lysosomes. 14.Cutting the DNA of cancer cells Researchers at Yale University have found that a substance produced by a marine bacterium can kill cancer cells by damaging DNA, and the new discovery paves the way for the development of low-dose chemotherapy drugs. The related paper was published in the May 11, 2014 issue of the journal Nature Chemistry.