The 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held in Washington DC, included topics covering new therapeutic developments in the field of cancer research. This conference report highlights selected presentations on the development of the third-generation camptothecin analog TH-1320 (Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc), the silencing of the androgen receptor in prostate cancer by the novel locked nucleic acid-based antisense oligonucleotide EZN-4176 (Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc/Santaris Pharma A/S), the inhibition of PC-3 cell invasiveness and metastasis by the CXCR4 antagonist CTCE-9908 (British Canadian BioSciences Corp), the antitumor efficacy of the CDH3 mAb PPMX-2017 (Perseus Proteomics Inc), and an anti-IL-6 mAb (MedImmune LLC) that suppresses tumor growth in vivo.