The use of philosophical methods to pin down definitions and conceptualizations in cancer research could help sort out the wooly thinking that is pervasive in the subject and help scientists from different disciplines to better collaborate, argues a discussion paper recently published in Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.  The paper discusses areas of confusion in cancer research and shows how a dose of clarity could considerably improve the effectiveness of research.  ACE scientist, Carlo Maley, is one of the authors.