The future of cancer is becoming clearer. And it’s not looking so good for cancer.

Research in the last two years to examine the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine has raised public doubt about the flu shot's effectiveness. But two Vanderbilt researchers co-wrote an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently to help balance the current debate.

Carlos Arteaga, M.D., professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology at Vanderbilt, has been elected president-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research for 2013-2014.

Immune cells that recognize self antigens (e.g. insulin), but are functionally silent, can trigger autoimmune diseases such as diabetes.

The gene Has2 participates in signaling that is important in developing fingers and toes, and may have relevance for cancer development.

Berberine, an herbal remedy for diarrhea and intestinal parasites, may be useful in colon cancer therapy.

Katherine Hutchinson, a third-year graduate student in Cancer Biology at Vanderbilt University, has won a $10,000 Research Scholar Award from the Joanna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation.