With more than 200 types of cancer and every cancer individually unique, ongoing efforts to develop precision oncology treatments remain daunting. Most of the focus has been on developing genetic sequencing assays or analyses to identify mutations in cancer driver genes, then trying to match treatments that may work against those mutations ..read more

Women with triple-negative breast cancer, and high levels of immune cells in the tumors, have a lower relapse risk after surgery, even without chemotherapy, according to a recent study published in JAMA ..read more

Through millions of years of evolutionary refinement, the human body has developed a sophisticated surveillance mechanism—the immune system. This intricate network is constantly scanning the body for invaders such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Scientists have long been captivated by its prowess, and, in recent years, they've turned their attention toward leveraging its capabilities to fight cancer ..read more

Cancer cells can change shape to travel around the body and spread (metastasize), but how they know when to do this has remained elusive ..read more

Cancer cells grow and spread by hiding from the body's immune system. Immunotherapy allows the immune system to find and attack hidden cancer cells, helping cancer patients live longer lives. However, many patients get little or no benefit from these revolutionary treatments ..read more

Researchers from the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center have created a urine-based test that detects pieces of DNA fragments released by head and neck tumors. The test could potentially facilitate early detection of this cancer type, which currently does not have a reliable screening method ..read more

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are next-generation drugs that can treat disease by blocking the transfer of harmful messages from our genes. In people with cancer, ASOs have the potential to block messages that encourage the growth and spread of the tumor. However, ASOs aren't used for treating cancer yet. They must first get delivered inside cancer cells, but the cancer cells won't let them in ..read more

New research from the University of Pittsburgh explains why metastatic uveal melanoma is resistant to conventional immunotherapies and how adoptive therapy, which involves growing a patient's T cells outside the body before reinfusing them, can successfully treat this rare and aggressive cancer ..read more

Breast cancer is now the world's most common cancer; at the end of 2020, 7.8 million women were alive after having been diagnosed in the previous five years. In the same year, 685,000 women died from the disease. Despite significant improvements in research, treatment, and survival, gross inequities persist, and many patients are being systematically left behind. This is a global blunder, says a new Lancet Commission ..read more

A drug used to treat children with epilepsy prevents brain tumor formation and growth in two mouse models of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. NF1 is a genetic condition that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body, including the optic nerves, which connect the eyes to the brain ..read more