Hiroshima University researchers have developed a practical framework to identify candidate pathogenic variants hidden among the large number of variants of uncertain significance (VUS) detected in comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) of cancers. This framework could improve the accuracy of precision oncology by more reliable prioritization of VUS.  

Researchers at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute have demonstrated that combining data from different origins enables a more precise characterisation of cell type’s diversity into tissues and organs. The team also introduced scOMM, a new machine learning tool for classifying and compare cell types across the distinct data modalities. The tool is openly available to researchers worldwide and has been successfully tested in kidney tissue, one of the most cellularly diverse organs in the human body and validated in blood and heart tissue. As the results demonstrate, when it comes to understanding complex tissues, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Microbial metabolites influence health far beyond the intestinal tract. Yet, a systematic understanding of how these molecules precisely control specific immune cell functions and regulate disease has remained elusive. A comprehensive review by the team of Professor Changtao Jiang and Dr. Kai Wang at Peking University addresses this gap. The article provides a critical theoretical foundation for understanding the gut microbiota-metabolite-immune axis in disease pathogenesis and for developing targeted intervention strategies.

Where previous research showed that PSMA therapy for prostate cancer can prolong the lives of patients who have exhausted all other treatment options, a new study now demonstrates that the therapy is also effective in an earlier stage of the disease. As a result, more burdensome hormone therapy can be postponed by twenty additional months, shows research led by Radboudumc.

MSK researchers and collaborators have developed a new type of CAR T cell designed to attack a cell surface protein called uPAR — allowing them to target both tumors and cancer supporting cells in the tumor microenvironment.