Biology of Cancer - Cancer Currents Blog
Cancer biology research news, with context from experts at NCI and elsewhere. Topics include cancer metastasis, the tumor microenvironment, and new targets for cancer therapies.
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Studying Genes and Proteins Together Sheds New Light on Colon Cancer
Using novel proteogenomic techniques, scientists from NCI’s Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium have uncovered new features of colon cancer that may guide new treatment strategies.
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New Drugs, New Side Effects: Complications of Cancer Immunotherapy
The expanding use of cancer immunotherapy has revealed a variety of side effects associated with this treatment approach. Researchers are now trying to better understand how and why these side effects occur and develop strategies for better managing them.
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Researchers Discover Potential Way to Hit Elusive Target in Pancreatic Cancer
Three research groups have found a potential way to kill cancer cells in pancreatic tumors by simultaneously blocking the activity of proteins that interact with KRAS proteins and disrupting an energy-creating process called autophagy.
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Bone Marrow Transplant Drug May Improve Immunotherapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer
The build-up of connective tissue around some types of cancer can act as a barrier to immunotherapy. A new study uses a bone marrow transplant drug, plerixafor, to break down this barrier and improve the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in animal models of breast cancer.
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Dormant Tumor Cells Can Be Sensitized to Chemotherapy
A new study in mice shows that disrupting the relationship between breast cancer cells that spread to bone and normal cells surrounding them makes the cancer cells sensitive to treatment.
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HTAN: Mapping Tumors across Space and Time Using Cutting-Edge Technologies
The Human Tumor Atlas Network, an NCI-led collaborative research project, is creating detailed maps of cancers that will be used to learn how cancer develops, spreads, and responds to treatment.
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Curbing Production of Immune Checkpoint Protein Slows Liver Cancer in Mice
Researchers have found an unconventional way to unleash the immune system against liver cancer in mice. The researchers used an investigational drug to curb the production of a checkpoint inhibitor protein that shields tumors from the immune system.
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Glioblastoma Study Highlights Sex Differences in Brain Cancer
Men and women with glioblastoma appear to respond differently to standard treatment. A new study identifies biological factors that might contribute to this sex difference.
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For Early-Stage Lung Cancer, Study Identifies Potential New Biomarker, Treatment Target
A new study has identified a potential biomarker of early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The biomarker, the study’s leaders said, could help diagnose precancerous lung growths and early-stage lung cancers noninvasively and distinguish them from noncancerous growths.
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Drug Combination May Target the Unique Metabolism of Leukemia Stem Cells
Two new studies show how the drugs venetoclax (Venclexta) and azacitidine (Vidaza) team up to block the unique metabolism of leukemia stem cells and may explain why the drug combination is effective against acute myeloid leukemia.
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Appendix Cancers Are Genetically Distinct from Other Gastrointestinal Cancers, Study Shows
The largest-ever study of DNA changes in appendix cancer shows that it is distinct from colorectal and other gastrointestinal cancers and suggests that specific mutations in appendix tumors may help predict whether they may be aggressive.
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Exosomes May Help Tumors Evade Immune System
A new study has identified what may be an important and previously unknown route by which tumors evade the immune system: They secrete small membrane-encased sacs, called exosomes, studded with a protein that dials down the immune response.
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Two Drugs Work Together to Block ‘Master Regulator’ of Breast, Other Cancers
Arsenic trioxide and retinoic acid work together to target the master regulator protein Pin1, a new study shows. In cancer cell lines and mice, the drug combination slowed the growth of triple-negative breast cancer tumors.
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High-Fat Diet or Diabetes Drug May Enhance Response to Targeted Cancer Drug
A study in mice may have identified a way to help overcome resistance to targeted cancer drugs known as PI3K inhibitors. The approach appears to work by reducing insulin levels in patients receiving these drugs.
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OncoArray Links Dozens of DNA Variants to Risk for Common Cancers
Researchers with the NCI-supported GAME-ON initiative and OncoArray Network are publishing studies identifying dozens of new genetic variants associated with the risk for developing some of the most common cancers.
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Can Immunotherapy Succeed in Glioblastoma?
Despite continued efforts to develop new therapies for glioblastoma, none have been able to improve how long patients live appreciably. Despite some setbacks, researchers are hopeful that immunotherapy might be able to succeed where other therapies have not.
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Molecular Switch Links High-Fat Diet to Prostate Cancer Metastasis
A new study in mice has revealed a molecular link between a high-fat diet and the growth and spread of prostate cancer. The findings, the study leaders believe, raise the possibility that changes in diet could potentially improve treatment outcomes in some men.
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New Cancer Treatment Approach Targets Circadian Clock
Two compounds that target components of the circadian clock killed several types of cancer cells in the lab and slowed the growth of brain tumors in mice without harming healthy cells, a new study showed.
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Gut Bacteria Influence Effectiveness of a Type of Immunotherapy
Using mouse models of cancer, researchers found that altering the gut microbiome could affect whether tumors responded to checkpoint inhibition.
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TARGET Study Finds Major Differences between Childhood and Adult AML
An NCI-funded study has found significant differences in the genetics of acute myeloid leukemia in younger and older patients. The findings could help guide the development of treatments tailored specifically for childhood AML.