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Researchers have created a laboratory-developed, three-dimensional organoid model derived from human tissue and designed to understand the early stages of cancer in the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ), the point where the food pipe of the digestive system meets the stomach. Using CRISPR-Cas9, the researchers also eliminated two key tumor suppressor genes, TP53 and CDKN2A,c in the organoids. The dual inactivation of these genes made the cells more cancerous, with faster growth and microscopic features closer to malignancy. These altered organoids also formed tumors in immunodeficient mice. The team further found abnormalities in lipids that store energy but also perform a variety of other functions, and identified platelet activating factor as a key lipid upregulated in GEJ organoids. The researchers used WEB2086, which stopped the growth of implanted GEJ organoid tumors. WEB2086, a Food and Drug Administration-approved compound used to treat platelet diseases, inhibits platelet activating factor receptors in GEJ.

The metastatic spread of cancer is achieved by the haematogenous dissemination of circulating tumour cells (CTCs). Generally, however, the temporal dynamics that dictate the generation of metastasis-competent CTCs are largely uncharacterized, and it is often assumed that CTCs are constantly shed from growing tumours or are shed as a consequence of mechanical insults1. Here the scientists observe a striking and unexpected pattern of CTC generation dynamics in both patients with breast cancer and mouse models, highlighting that most spontaneous CTC intravasation events occur during sleep. Further, they demonstrate that rest-phase CTCs are highly prone to metastasize, whereas CTCs generated during the active phase are devoid of metastatic ability. Mechanistically, single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of CTCs reveals a marked upregulation of mitotic genes exclusively during the rest phase in both patients and mouse models, enabling metastasis proficiency. Systemically, they find that key circadian rhythm hormones such as melatonin, testosterone and glucocorticoids dictate CTC generation dynamics, and as a consequence, that insulin directly promotes tumour cell proliferation in vivo, yet in a time-dependent manner. Thus, the spontaneous generation of CTCs with a high proclivity to metastasize does not occur continuously, but it is concentrated within the rest phase of the affected individual, providing a new rationale for time-controlled interrogation and treatment of metastasis-prone cancers. A study of patients with breast cancer and mouse models demonstrates that most circulating tumour cells are generated during the rest phase of the circadian rhythm, and that these cells are highly prone to metastasize.

EPFL scientists have developed a chemical method for targeting the effects of cancer-fighting immunotherapy drugs only to the tumor tissue, making the drugs less toxic to the rest of the human body.

Moffitt Cancer Center, a national leader in cancer care and research and the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Florida, is presenting new data from dozens of clinical research studies at this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, the largest clinical cancer research meeting in the world. Moffitt investigators will lead 25 abstract presentations, five educational sessions, two cancer panels and two clinical science symposia. The virtual meeting will take place June 4-8, 2021. Among those presenting will be Dr. Bijal Shah, who will discuss the results of the Phase 2 ZUMA-3 trial evaluating CAR T-cell therapy for adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a difficult-to-treat malignancy in this patient population. Also on hand will be Dr. Frederick Locke, who will present data from the ALPHA2 trial evaluating ALLO-501, an allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy product, in combination with ALLO-647, a monoclonal antibody that depletes lymphocytes in the body to help prepare the patient to receive new immune cells, in patients with large B-cell lymphoma.

 A kill code is embedded in every cell in the body whose function may be to cause the self-destruction of cells that become cancerous, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. As soon as the cell’s inner bodyguards sense it is mutating into cancer, they punch in the kill code to extinguish the mutating cell.  

Cancer cells obtained from a blood test may be able to predict how early-stage lung cancer patients will fare, a team from the University of Michigan has shown. ANN ARBOR—Cancer cells obtained from

Patients with common widespread forms of cancer will enjoy longer life expectancy and reduced risk of recurrence thanks to a multimodal optical spectroscopy probe developed by Canadian researchers.

The US-based researchers say the new system, which is based on image recognition, could be developed for smartphones, increasing access to screening and providing a low-cost way to check whether skin lesions are cause for concern.

The University of New Mexico study provides strong evidence for the effectiveness of vaccines that target the human papilloma virus, or HPV, that causes most cervical cancers, the study’s lead author said.

The soaring popularity of gene editing has made celebrities of the principal investigators who pioneered the field — but their graduate students and postdocs are often overlooked.

Scientists set out to prove experimentally what they had first deduced from computational studies: that the apple plasminogen-nematode domain, or PAN, is linked to cell proliferation that drives tumor growth in humans and defense signaling during plant-microbe interactions in bioenergy crops. The association was first made when researchers explored the genomes of crops like poplar and willow. In the latest study, the research team identified four core amino acids called cysteine residues in the HGF protein essential for PAN domain function and studied their behavior in human cancer cell lines. They found that mutation of one of these amino acids, achieved using CRISPR-9, disabled the signaling pathway known as HGF-c-MET that is abnormally high in cancer cells, forcing them to multiply and spread rapidly. The team's findings, published in Nature Communications Biology, open a new avenue for the development of selective drug therapies to fight a variety of cancers such as those that start in the breast and stomach.

In what appears to be a very promising breakthrough for the treatment of rectal cancer, a small drug trial conducted in the US found every patient treated in the experiment had their cancer successfully go into remission.

Each person carries about 100 trillion bacterial cells in their digestive tract, belonging to several thousand species, this is called the microbiome. It is believed to be involved in the development of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, to trigger diabetes, to be responsible for obesity, and even for neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, but also for depression and autistic disorders. Scientists from the Universities of Würzburg and Marburg have succeeded for the first time in demonstrating experimentally that bacterial metabolites can increase the cytotoxic activity of certain immune cells and thus positively influencing the efficacy of tumor therapies. Ideally, the bacterial species composition of the microbiome could be used to monitor its influence on the success of therapy. It is the short-chain fatty acids, butyrate and, in particular, pentanoate, that are able to increase the cytotoxic activity of CD8 T cells. Their study shows that treatment with the fatty acid pentanoate increased the ability of tumor-specific T cells to fight solid tumor models. Furthermore, the same effect was observed with CAR-T based treatment.

Prostate cancer contains nerve cells that are linked to disease progression, but their source was unknown. A mouse study reveals that cells from the brain invade prostate tumours and give rise to this nerve-cell population.

When it comes to treating cancer, surgeons want to get rid of as much cancerous tissue as possible during tumor removal. Now a new technology—the size of a pen—is attempting to make that easier by distinguishing between tumors and healthy tissue in just 10 seconds.

Johns Hopkins researchers report they have uncovered a mechanism in amoebae that rapidly changes the way cells migrate by resetting their sensitivity to the naturally occurring internal signaling events that drive such movement. The finding, described in a report published online March 28 in Nature Cell Biology, demonstrates that the migratory behavior of cells may be less “hard-wired” than previously thought, the researchers say, and advances the future possibility of finding ways to manipulate and control some deadly forms of cell migration, including cancer metastasis.

Since 2013, O’Malley and hundreds of his fellow Chicago firefighters have breathed into masks as part of a study. The breath samples are tested by dogs trained to sniff out cancer. A raised paw means a sample is positive. “I think the dogs are detecting a cocktail of odors,” explained Glenn Ferguson, founder of Cancer Dogs. He says the dogs are catching cancer 95% of the time and often before traditional screenings.

Servier has signed a deal that could give it access to up to eight bispecific drug candidates with immuno-oncology applications from Pieris Pharmaceuticals.

SAN FRANCISCO — Mostly dead is still partly alive, even for cells on the brink of suicide, new research suggests.

Near-death experiences may play a role in embryo development and help cancer cells that survive chemotherapy spread throughout the body, Denise Montell, a cell biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, reported December 6 at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology.

Employing a novel sensor made of graphene – a one-atom-thin layer of carbon – University of California, Irvine researchers have gained new insight into the process of programmed cell death in mitochondria, possibly opening the door to new ways of forcing cancer cells to self-destruct. They also hit a scientific jackpot of sorts by finding that an accepted paradigm of how cells create energy is only half-right.

It’s no secret that Apple has ambitious plans for iPhone and Apple Watch in the health industry, but it’s not the only company looking for ways to integrate smartphones in the medical field. Recently, a research team from Washington State University, under the leadership of assistant professor Lei Li, developed a portable laboratory that’s powered by a smartphone and capable of detecting cancer nearly instantly…