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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Scientists Link a Single Type of Bacteria to Colorectal Cancer
NCI-funded researchers have pinpointed a single type of the bacterium F. nucleatum that appears to fuel the development and growth of colorectal cancer. In mice, the bacterium, Fna C2, appeared to cause more adenomas to form in the large intestine and it was often found in human tumor samples.
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Drug Combination May Have Potential for Cancers with TP53 Mutations
Although TP53 mutations help drive the growth of most cancers, there are no FDA-approved therapies that target altered p53 proteins. Now a drug combination has shown promise in mice and is being tested in a clinical trial.
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Stress-Induced Immune Changes May Help Cancer Spread
Stress-induced hormones called glucocorticoids can cause biological changes—in the form of sticky traps called NETs—that help create hospitable environments for cancer cells to form metastatic tumors, according to new research done largely in mice.
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Stealing Strategies from Cancerous T Cells May Boost Immunotherapy
Adding a fusion of parts of two genes helped engineered T cells divide faster, kill more tumor cells, and survive longer in mice without making the T cells behave like cancer cells.
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Manipulating an Immune Cell May Make Radiation Therapy More Effective, Study Suggests
In a new study in mice, researchers showed they could enhance radiation therapy by boosting levels of the BAMBI protein in MDSC immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. After radiation, T cells flooded into the tumor and killed tumors elsewhere in the body.
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Genetic Signature May Help Tailor Treatment for Meningioma
The activity of 34 genes can accurately predict the aggressiveness of meningiomas, a new study shows. This gene expression signature may help oncologists select the best treatments for people with this common type of brain cancer than they can with current methods.
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Antibody Drug Ejects Problematic Proteins from Cancer Cells
Antibodies currently used in many cancer treatments have only been able to reach proteins outside of cancer cells. In a new study in mice, scientists found a way to target cancer-fueling KRAS and IDH1 proteins buried inside cancer cells.
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Molecular Burglary: Cancer Cells Hijack Energy from Immune Cells
A new study shows that, in some tumors, a subset of cancer cells can drain mitochondria, the tiny structures within cells that produce energy, from T cells and use them for their own energy needs.
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A Better Biomarker for Cancer Immunotherapy?
A new study, conducted largely in mice, may help explain why a currently used molecular marker—called mismatch repair deficiency—doesn’t always work to predict which patients will respond to immunotherapies called immune checkpoint inhibitors.
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ENLACE Study Explores Colorectal Cancer in Hispanic and Latino People
The ENLACE study is the first to use cutting-edge technologies to describe the molecular features of colorectal tumors in Hispanic and Latino people. The study’s goals are to improve treatments and increase Hispanic/Latino engagement in cancer research.
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Oncolytic Virus Enables the Immune System to Attack Tumors
A cancer-infecting virus engineered to tamp down a tumor’s ability to suppress the immune system shrank tumors in mice, a new study shows. The modified oncolytic virus worked even better when used along with an immune checkpoint inhibitor.
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Researchers Develop a Potential “Universal” CAR T-Cell Therapy for Blood Cancers
Researchers have used a form of CRISPR, called base editing, to engineer T cells and hematopoietic stem cells as part of a potential “universal” CAR T-cell therapy for blood cancers. In experiments in mice, the treatment rapidly eliminated tumors, including in mice with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
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New Class of Compounds Rewires Cancer Cells to Self-Destruct
Researchers have created a molecule that, in cancer cells, hooks onto the protein BCL6 at one end and another protein that turns genes on at the other end. The result: self-destruct genes are turned up, causing the cancer cells to die.
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Engaging People with Low-Grade Glioma in Cancer Research
An NCI-supported study called OPTIMUM, part of the Cancer Moonshot, was launched to improve the care of people with brain tumors called low-grade glioma in part by bringing them into glioma-related research.
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Loss of Y Chromosome in Men Makes Bladder Cancer More Aggressive
In men, loss of the Y chromosome in bladder cancer cells helped tumors evade the immune system and grow unchecked, a new study shows. However, losing the chromosome also appears to make bladder cancer more susceptible to immunotherapy, researchers reported.
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How Fatty Liver Disease Helps Cancer Thrive in the Liver
When colorectal cancer spreads to the liver, it can be very difficult to treat. Cancer is more likely to invade the liver when patients have fatty liver disease. A recent study places the blame on “message bubbles” called extracellular vesicles that are released by the liver.
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No Glucose? Pancreatic Cancer May Have a Ready Energy Alternative
A new study finds that pancreatic cancer cells have a ready way to overcome a lack of glucose, a frequent occurrence in this disease. They use another fuel source: a molecule called uridine. Findings from a related study suggest other cancers do as well.
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How Some Brain Tumors Hijack the Mind to Grow
Researchers have found that the aggressive brain cancer glioblastoma can co-opt the formation of new synapses to fuel its own growth. This neural redirection also appears to play a role in the devastating cognitive decline seen in many people with glioblastoma.
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Coming Full Circle on Cancer and Extrachromosomal DNA
A new study shows for the first time that a circular form of DNA, called ecDNA, is present in precancerous tissue and not just cancer cells. The study also suggested that when ecDNA is present in Barrett’s esophagus, that tissue is almost certain to become cancer.
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Strategy May Prevent Tumor Resistance to Targeted Cancer Therapies
Researchers have identified a mechanism by which cancer cells develop specific genetic changes needed to become resistant to targeted therapies. They also showed that this process, called non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ), can potentially be disrupted.