A molecular feature in prostate cancer, called endogenous retroviral (ERV) RNA, has been found to have prognostic value and also distinguish differences between men of African and European or Middle Eastern ancestry, according to a new study. The team also identified ERV expression signatures that may be useful for identifying prostate cancer patients at greatest risk of progression regardless of ancestry, which may also extend to progression in other cancers.

The discovery raises the possibility that some of the roughly two million new cases of colorectal cancer every year around the world originate from brief and seemingly mild food-poisoning events.

There are myriad reasons why cancers develop. By studying genes which are altered in people with lymphoma, a multidisciplinary team of researchers has identified a key mechanism involved in disease development. This signaling pathway, which the researchers describe in detail, controls the repair of DNA damage.

Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the bone marrow, with a life expectancy of less than 5 years post-diagnosis. Proteasome inhibitors, the therapeutic backbone of current treatments, are very effective in treating newly diagnosed cancers but resistance or intolerance to these molecules inevitably develop, leading to relapses. While studying a neglected tropical disease , Buruli ulcer, researchers discovered a novel therapeutic target for multiple myeloma that could allow to bypass this resistance.

When an individual suffers from cancer, the process of programmed cell death called apoptosis does not occur normally, permitting abnormal cells to thrive.

In a new study, researchers have identified the presence of a specific connection between a protein and an lncRNA molecule in liver cancer. By increasing the presence of the lncRNA molecule, the fat depots of the tumor cell decrease, which causes the division of tumor cells to cease, and they eventually die. The study contributes to increased knowledge that can add to a better diagnosis and future cancer treatments.

Research suggests that a vaccine stimulating production of a protein critical to the skin’s antioxidant network could help people bolster their defenses against skin cancer.

Tertiary lymphoid structures are formations that occur outside of the lymphatic system. They contain immune cells and are similar in structure and function to lymph nodes and other lymphoid structures. However, little is known about how tertiary lymphoid structures form. In a new article published in Immunity, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers report on the molecular and cellular mechanisms that control tertiary lymphoid structure formation within tumors.

Scientists have provided new insights into molecular ‚crosstalk‘ in pancreas cancer cells, identifying vulnerabilities that could provide a target for therapeutic drugs already being studied in several cancers.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of white blood cells. Researchers discovered that AML cancer cells depend on a protein called SCP4 to survive. They think the previously little-known protein is involved in a metabolic pathway the cancer cells need to survive. SCP4 provides researchers with a potential new therapeutic approach for this aggressive cancer.

Researchers have found that manipulating voltage patterns of tumor cells — using ion channel blockers already FDA-approved as treatments for other diseases — can in fact significantly reduce metastasis in animal models of breast cancer.

A new study reveals important insights into the molecular mechanisms that underpin the body’s natural defences against the development of skin cancer. The protein CSDE1 coordinates a complex chain of events that enable senescence in skin cells. The senescent cells act as a firewall against cancer, suppressing the formation of tumours. The findings are surprising because CSDE1 has been previously linked to driving the formation of cancers. The results offer new clues into the behavior of skin cancer at the cellular level, paving the way for potential new therapeutic targets to treat the disease.

A research team has successfully repurposed an approved drug ifenprodil, a vasodilator, to be used in combination with the FDA-approved first-line drug sorafenib for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment. This study leveraged on their CombiGEM-CRISPR v2.0 screening platform1 to expedite the search among the many possible drug combinations to inhibit druggable targets in the genome for treating HCC.

Removing one type of T cell from donor blood used for stem cell grafts could greatly reduce a serious complication called graft-versus-host disease in patients with leukemia, according to a new study.

Researchers have developed an optical biopsy system that can distinguish between cancerous and healthy liver tissue. The technology makes use of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and lifetime fluorescence measurements to evaluate makers of cellular metabolism that differ between healthy and cancerous cells. The system has higher accuracy than traditional biopsies, possibly making liver cancer diagnosis easier.

Researchers have successfully treated cancer in mice using metal catalysts that assemble anticancer drugs together inside the body. This study is the first report of therapeutic in vivo synthetic chemistry being used to make anticancer substances where they are needed simply by injecting their ingredients through a vein. Because this technique avoids indiscriminate tissue damage, it is expected to have a significant impact on cancer treatment.

Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy can experience severe side effects that persist long after treatments end. A new study has found a novel pathway for understanding why these debilitating conditions happen — and why scientists should focus on ‚all of the possible neural processes that deliver sensory or motor problems to a patient’s brain‘ and not just those that occur away from the center of the body.

To fight infections and heal injuries, immune cells need to enter tissue. They also need to invade tumors to fight them from within. Scientists have now discovered how immune cells protect their sensitive insides as they squeeze between tissue cells. The team lays the foundation for identifying new targets in cancer treatment.

A highly portable and rapid prostate cancer screening kit could provide early warning to populations with higher incidence of prostate cancer and particularly those with limited access to health care, such as African American men.

Standard chemotherapies may efficiently kill cancer cells, but they also pose significant risks to healthy cells, resulting in secondary illness and a diminished quality of life for patients. To prevent the previously unavoidable damage, researchers have developed a new class of nanomaterials engineered to capture chemotherapy drugs before they interact with healthy tissue.

A trial found that taking a much higher dose of vitamin D than recommended for five years did not affect total mortality or the incidence of cardiovascular disease or cancer in older men and women.

Researchers have discovered details of how proteins produced by oral epithelial cells protect humans against viruses entering the body through the mouth. They also found that oral bacteria can suppress the activity of these cells, increasing vulnerability to infection.

Researchers have developed a unique nanoparticle to deliver genome editing technology, including CRISPR/Cas9, to endothelial cells, which are cells that line blood vessel walls. This is the first time that vascular endothelial cells could be reached for genome editing, since the usual way to deliver CRISPR/Cas9 — through a virus — does not work for this cell type.

Aggressive and relatively common lymphomas called diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) have a critical metabolic vulnerability that can be exploited to trick these cancers into starving themselves, according to a new study.

Immunotherapies called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells use genetically engineered versions of a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer. These treatments have energized cancer care, especially for people with certain types of blood cancers. Now, scientists have developed new CAR T cells that can do something their predecessors cannot: Make drugs.