Thus, the researchers reckon that when a tumour cell is under pressure from foreign toxins it starts to make more vaults to help get rid of the unwelcome molecules.

ECONOMIST: Cell biology: The secret of the vaults | The

But when the protein was attached to the mRNA for the Cox-2 enzyme, cancer cells could no longer make Cox-2, and they died, suggesting it plays a key role in tumour cell survival or death.

BBC: Protein 'makes cancer cells self-destruct'

That would allow a tumour to be destroyed cell by cell probably not a practical anti-cancer therapy, but something which would allow researchers to learn more about how cancer cells interact with one another, and thus reveal their vulnerabilities in a way that was previously unimaginable.

ECONOMIST: Modern X-ray technology

For one point about anticancer genes is that several have to go wrong in the same cell before a tumour can grow.

ECONOMIST: Cancer genetics

What scientists have been looking for are proteins which are found on the tumour cells - but not on every other cell of the body - which provoke some sort of immune response.

BBC: Find boosts cancer vaccine hopes

Heat also increases how well the drug is absorbed into the cancer cell and increases oxygen levels in the tumour which makes chemotherapy more effective.

BBC: 'Heat treatment' for breast cancer