A new study has revealed changes in healthy lung tissue which indicate preparation to receive metastases. The changes were identified in the area known as ‚the micro-environment‘ of the tumor, and specifically in connective tissue known as fibroblasts.

A key element to slowing metastasis in ovarian cancer is understanding the mechanisms of how tumor cells invade tissues. Biophysics researchers explain how microscopic defects in how healthy cells line up can alter how easily ovarian cancer cells invade tissue. Using an experimental model, the group found that disruptions in the normal cellular layout, called topological defects, affect the rate of tumor cell invasion.

New research has identified potential treatment that could improve the human immune system’s ability to search out and destroy cancer cells within the body. Scientists have identified a way to restrict the activity of a group of cells which regulate the immune system, which in turn can unleash other immune cells to attack tumours in cancer patients.

Findings could help pave the way for cancer therapies that target TAF12, potentially stopping transcription in cancer cells and helping decrease the growth of cancerous tumors.

A major challenge in cancer therapy is the adaptive response of cancer cells to targeted therapies. Although this adaptive response is theoretically reversible, such a reversal is hampered by numerous molecular mechanisms that allow the cancer cells to adapt to the treatment. A team has used information theory, in order to objectify in vivo the molecular regulations at play in the mechanisms of the adaptive response and their modulation by a therapeutic combination.

A recently developed method provides new insights into cancer biology by allowing researchers to show how fatty acids are absorbed by single cells.

Approximately 15% of lung cancer tumors are caused by a mutation in a growth receptor called EGFR. An effective drug can kill most of the cancer cells, but the tumor eventually grows back. Researchers investigated the molecular mechanisms behind this relapse. They discovered that some of the cells were resistant to the EGFR treatment; they survived using a parallel pathway.

Anti-androgen therapy is commonly used to treat patients with advanced prostate cancer at stages where the disease has spread to the bones. However, new research has found that anti-androgen treatment can actually facilitate prostate cancer cells to adapt and grow in the bone tumor microenvironment model developed by biomedical scientists.

Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), an enzyme involved in gene expression, produces individualized metabolism depending on the type of acute myeloid leukemia cells. Cancer cells have a unique ability to metabolize substances differently from normal cells, and this ability is considered to be a promising therapeutic target. New findings may contribute to the safe and effective use of LSD1 inhibitors as potential anticancer agents, and to the development of highly specific treatments for various leukemia types.

What if a microscope allowed us to explore the 3D microcosm of blood vessels, nerves, and cancer cells instantaneously in virtual reality? What if it could provide views from multiple directions in real time without physically moving the specimen and worked up to 100 times faster than current technology?

Cancer cells can put the body’s immune cells into sleep mode. Immunotherapy can reverse this, but it doesn’t work for all patients and all cancer types. Researchers have now developed machine learning models that can predict if someone is likely to respond positively to immunotherapy. In clinical settings, this could pave the way for personalized immunotherapy approaches for patients, as well as guidance on how to best combine immunotherapy with other treatments.

Researchers have developed a microfilter device that can easily separate and capture trace amounts of cancer cells in blood. The palm-sized device is expected to contribute to the development of new cancer diagnostic technologies based on cancer cells in the blood, such as early detection by blood test, postoperative management, and recurrence monitoring.

Scientists have discovered stem cells of the hematopoietic system in glioblastomas, the most aggressive form of brain tumor. These hematopoietic stem cells promote division of the cancer cells and at the same time suppress the immune response against the tumor. This surprising discovery might open up new possibilities for developing more effective immunotherapies against these malignant brain tumors.

Scientists have designed an eco-friendly protocol for synthesizing gold nanoparticles with optimized morphology for near-infrared light absorption using a biomolecule called B3 peptide. They report the synthesis of triangular and circular gold nanoplates and their effectiveness in killing cancer cells by converting the absorbed light into heat, providing useful insights for the development of non-invasive cancer therapy.

Pancreatic cancer cells typically rely on a mutant version of the KRAS protein to proliferate. These cancer cells can also survive losing KRAS by activating alternative growth pathways. Scientists discovered a new interaction between mutant KRAS and a protein complex called RSK1/NF1 that may be the source of this adaptive resistance.

In a bid to find or refine laboratory research models for cancer that better compare with what happens in living people, scientists report they have developed a new computer-based technique showing that human cancer cells grown in culture dishes are the least genetically similar to their human sources.

New results allow the development of novel therapies for hereditary forms of intestinal cancer.

As deadly as it is, cancer metastasis is a poorly understood process. A new study describes a cutting-edge tool for tracing the lineage and gene expression of thousands of individual metastatic cancer cells. Their findings open new angles for investigating the processes that drive metastasis.

A new discovery in Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive and often fatal childhood cancer, has uncovered the potential to prevent cancer cells from spreading beyond their primary tumour site. Researchers have learned that Ewing sarcoma cells — and likely other types of cancer cells — are able to develop a shield that protects them from the harsh environment of the bloodstream and other locations as they search for a new place to settle, or metastasize.

An odor-based test that sniffs out vapors emanating from blood samples was able to distinguish between benign and pancreatic and ovarian cancer cells with up to 95% accuracy.

Normal cells usually have multiple solutions for fixing problems that may arise. But cancer cells may ‚put all their eggs in one basket,‘ getting rid of all backup plans and depending on just one solution. Researchers discovered that a particular type of blood cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, came to depend on a single DNA repair method. They developed a drug that shut down the remaining pathway in lab-grown cells.

This study builds on decades of work showing that the protein IL-24 attacks cancer broadly, and is the first to deliver the protein using T cells. This approach is in contrast to CAR-T cells, which are built to recognize proteins on the surface of cancer cells and haven’t been successful against solid tumors. Mice with prostate cancer experienced shrinkage of the original tumor as well as distant metastases following treatment with IL-24 T cells.

An innovative new technique that encourages cancer cells in the kidneys to self-destruct could revolutionize the treatment of the disease.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors boost a patient’s immune response against cancer cells, but they can cause potentially life-threatening side effects in some individuals. New research may help clinicians determine which patients are most at risk.

Researchers have discovered that by changing two components of the media used to culture the cells, they can make liver cancer cells behave more like normal liver cells. Rather than using standard serum containing glucose, they used serum from which the glucose had been removed using dialysis and added galactose to the media. This changes the metabolism of the cells making them behave more like normal liver cells.