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3 Medical Breakthroughs in Cancer Treatment
From an AI-driven treatment plan to a drug that lights up hidden cancer cells, smart technologies are gathering and reporting data from our bodies — and offering new hope
3-minute read
Bishop Evans preaches at his church on July 26, 2026 in Illinois.
Mustafa Hussain
Facing lung cancer surgery on New Year’s Eve 2025, Bishop Steven Evans wondered whether he’d be able to return to his calling: preaching and singing as the pastor of Leap of Faith Ministries in Park Forest, Illinois.
“I’ve been a singer all my life,” says Evans, 70, of neighboring South Chicago Heights, who also works for Illinois Youth and Family Services as a participant services supervisor.
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Evans’ surgeon, Dr. Justin Karush, director of thoracic surgery at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital in Palos Heights, used a pioneering drug called pafolacianine (Cytalux) during the procedure. The drug makes tumors glow a fluorescent green, so hidden cancer becomes visible and can be removed.
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Courtesy CYTALUX
In the operating room, Karush was shocked by the extent of the non-small cell lung cancer in the lower lobe of Evans’ right lung. Large areas lit up green, then red, blue and yellow as Karush adjusted the light on a camera he used during the robotic, minimally invasive procedure.
“I thought, Wait, this tumor isn’t supposed to be this big,” says Karush. “The drug showed us something in real time we didn’t know from imaging beforehand.” Karush decided to remove the whole lobe. “It was all cancer,” he says.
FDA-approved in 2021 and 2022 for ovarian and lung cancer surgeries, respectively, and commercially available since September 2023, pafolacianine is the first drug of its kind for detecting cancer in real time during surgery, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Courtesy CYTALUX
Developed by On Target Laboratories of West Lafayette, Indiana, it combines folate (vitamin B9) with a fluorescent dye. In several types of cancer, cells are studded with folate receptors because cancer devours folate to fuel its growth. Given intravenously one to 24 hours before surgery, the drug moves through the body; cancer cells gobble it up.
When a surgeon shines near-infrared light on tissue, the dye makes even the smallest cancers glow brightly. As a result, surgeons can remove more cancer and leave more healthy tissue in place, says Karush.
Both lung and ovarian cancers have high recurrence rates, despite recent treatment advances. One reason: cancer left behind during surgery. But in a study published in 2023 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology of 150 midlife and older women with known or suspected ovarian cancer, 1 in 3 had extra areas of the disease detected with the drug that were not found with usual checks during surgery.
Two months after his procedure, Evans had a follow-up appointment at Karush’s office. His recovery had gone well, but the surgery had “removed about 22 percent of his lung function,” Karush says.
“Hey, are you able to sing?” Karush asked the bishop. Evans took a deep, full breath. In a ringing baritone, he sang his favorite gospel song: “I’ve had some good days / I’ve had some hills to climb.… I won’t complain.”
More advances in cancer care
Breakthrough: Pancreatic cancer drug doubles survival time
The new drug daraxonrasib increased survival with a common type of metastatic pancreatic cancer to 13.2 months, compared with 6.7 months for conventional chemotherapy, according to a study published in May.
The pill targets a genetic mutation found in more than 90 percent of advanced pancreatic cancer cases. The FDA approved the drug, which will be sold under the brand name Rasonque, in late August.
Breakthrough: AI helps determine ideal cancer therapy
An online AI tool from the National Cancer Institute can predict whether a person’s cancer will respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) — a type of drug that helps immune cells kill cancerous ones. ICIs can be highly effective, but only about 1 in 5 people respond to them. The tool is publicly available at loris.ccr.cancer.gov.
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