ALFRED PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY THE first cancer treatments were brutal: in 3000 BC, Ancient Egyptians started removing breast tumours by burning them off with a tool they called a “fire drill”. Even when chemotherapy arrived in the 1940s, it was essentially poison that attacked cancer cells and the body alike, resulting in terrible side effects. Fortunately, we are now entering an era of “precision medicine” in which cancer treatments can be tailor-made for individuals so ...