One of the biggest barriers to treating cancer is drug resistance, a phenomenon that remains only partially understood. This is partly because of the complex ways in which different forms of cancer are treated, and partly because of how quickly cancer cells can adapt and change to the environment around them.
The resistance of cancer to certain drugs is thought to have come about the same way cancer itself was born; through evolution. Mutations can cause cancers to be resistant to drugs, in the same way resistance to antibiotics is created in certain strains of bacteria. However, there is also a body of evidence coming to light that suggests there could be non-genetic mechanisms through which cancer can also develop resistance to drugs.
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Abigail Beall 