For more than 50 years, the Magic 8-Ball® has been a perennial favorite, today inspiring numerous knock-offs and Internet versions. While we know it can’t really predict the future, it’s difficult to resist. Ask a question – “Will my grant get funded?” – turn it over, and the answer appears in the window.

It’s all in fun, so answers like “cannot predict now” or “reply hazy, try again” are easy to brush off. Just keep trying until the answer we want reveals itself.

But when you are facing cancer, your questions demand less ambiguous replies. At the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, we work hard to answer those questions in an evidence-based manner. As we develop a deeper understanding about the molecular defects in a cancer cell, we’re using new information to improve treatment and early diagnosis, tailor therapy and prevent disease.

As this issue of Momentum went to press, National Colorectal Cancer Month was just getting under way. Activities and education abound this spring, aimed at increasing awareness of the second leading cancer killer. It is a cancer that typically progresses in a predictable way, offering opportunities to intervene, but not everything is known about the molecular defects that play a role in this disease. In “Predicting Colon Cancer,” you’ll read about work here and elsewhere aimed at unlocking the secrets behind this disease and using that knowledge to improve diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

Also in this issue, you’ll learn about a protein called transforming growth factor beta, sometimes referred to as Jekyll and Hyde, and you’ll meet the pioneering scientist, Dr. Hal Moses, who helped solve the mystery of its dual nature. Other stories explore the important role of the oncology nurse in the lives of patients and families; take you behind the scenes to meet the medical physicists who have great expertise in the design of complex radiation therapy plans; and highlight the creativity and commitment of dozens of volunteers across the state who are part of the Tennessee Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition.
Last but not least, throughout the issue, you’ll meet individuals like David Lipscomb and Stephanie Crowe whose worlds were rocked by a cancer diagnosis. In “A Marriage of Music and Medicine,” you’ll read about a longstanding partnership to make life better for folks like them and future generations. For 15 years, the T.J. Martell Foundation has fueled promising discoveries in our Frances Williams Preston Laboratories – it is a relationship that has yielded not only promising discoveries but also great friendships.

As always, we hope you enjoy this issue, and that you’ll share your copy with others. We are proud to report on our work, which ultimately is focused on answering one question – can we achieve a world without cancer?

As the Magic 8-Ball® might say, “It is decidedly so.”