It is indeed a long road, so much so that I myself need to review some of the details related to it.
Cancer, as one of the major threats to human health, has long attracted resources from many aspects, including basic research, clinical frontiers, industrial investment, and social security. The anti-cancer cause is prosperous and full of setbacks, even though immunotherapy has regained attention in recent years and has indeed made great progress. Why do people still need to face so many contradictions and doubts in cancer research and treatment after investing huge human, material and financial resources? I think it's probably because cancer is the threat that's most different from the other threats. As part of my postdoctoral work, I began to focus on cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and completed the writing of a review paper. However, when I was preparing to publish it, I encountered difficulties: as the sole author, my review paper was "intercepted". Fortunately, preprints, as a new publishing model, allow me to find another way, although this road is unknown and long.
Some people may admire my perseverance, but I would say that the success is not entirely due to me. Admittedly, when I decided to publish the research results as a preprint, I did think it was very necessary, because this can help cancer research participants around the world adjust their resource allocation in a timely manner, avoid unnecessary waste, and truly benefit patients and society. But I must emphasize that without the participation of partners from all over the world, I alone would not have achieved today's success. I am honored to provide you with an opportunity to realize the vision you have been looking forward to for a long time.
It is worth mentioning that during this journey, I also had the precious opportunity to communicate and learn with people from different research fields, which broadened my horizons and increased my knowledge. Of course, I also contributed some of my own insights in this process of communication and learning. I personally believe that through these exchanges, the scientific community has or is promoting the solution of some problems. Even if these problems seem unrelated, and the people discussing these problems may have their own prejudices at first, the process of helping these problems to be solved shows that, at least within the scope of the scientific community, people who are willing to sit down and talk can always find answers. Because we are all scientific workers, adhering to rational thinking.
Another interesting thing is that scientists' "neuroticism" seems to be increasingly linked to autism spectrum disorder or neurodiversity. In fact, I also feel that my thinking mode is different from most people, but I don't care whether it is autism spectrum disorder. I think what matters is what my difference can do for society. It's like playing a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece is different, but each piece is indispensable, otherwise you can't make a perfect "Mona Lisa".
The above is a thank you for the staged success. The road ahead is long and arduous, but I hope we can all live in harmony and achieve world peace.