Some cancer cells evade medicines by switching to a sleep-like state with the help of stress hormone receptors. Researchers have developed a method that allows them to degrade these receptors and therefore bypass the cells’ protective mechanism. To this end, they built a switch that can be turned on and off with light in the vicinity of the tumour and that tags the receptors for disposal. This system is effective against lung cancer in the lab and could also have future applications in breast and prostate cancer. 

A cancer patient’s genetic ancestry can have a significant effect on how their disease progresses and on their survival. New research shows dozens of mutations that are significantly more or less common depending on the patient’s ancestry, about half of which can be targeted by existing treatments. A scoring system was able to predict patient survival, particularly so in breast cancer and glioma. When ancestry information was added, the survival prediction became even more accurate, particularly in cancer of the pancreas.

In a first-of-its-kind randomized trial, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers found that teclistamab may significantly improve outcomes for patients with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma, a precursor condition that can progress to active cancer. In the phase 2 ImmunoPRISM trial, the BCMA-targeted bispecific antibody outperformed lenalidomide plus dexamethasone, pointing to the potential value of using immune-based therapy earlier in the course of the disease.

Triplet therapy with pirtobrutinib, venetoclax, and rituximab as a two-year fixed-duration therapy improves progression free survival for patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) compared to standard of care venetoclax plus rituximab therapy, according to interim data from the randomized, phase 3 BRUIN CLL-322 clinical trial. Matthew Davids, MD, MMSc, Chief of the Division of Lymphoma at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, presented the results in the Late-Breaking Abstract session at the European Hematology Association 2026 Congress in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 14, 2026.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that interfere with hormones were found in breast milk and in the urine of children from birth up to 6 months, according to a study being presented Saturday at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.

Longer lifetime exposure to female hormones may increase the risk of thyroid cancer in women, according to a study being presented Saturday at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. The research suggests reproductive and hormonal factors may be involved in thyroid carcinogenesis.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy, plus belzutifan, a HIF-2α inhibitor, as adjuvant treatment for adult patients with renal cell carcinoma with a clear cell component (ccRCC) at intermediate-high or high risk of recurrence following nephrectomy, with or without resection of metastatic lesions. The approval is based on results from the phase 3 LITESPARK-022 trial, led by Toni Choueiri, MD, director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Cancer drugs can shrink fast-growing tumors. But sometimes a few tumor cells survive. These “persister” cells seed new tumors, forcing cancer patients into arduous cycles of testing and treatment.  

A molecular geneticist at Montana State University has discovered a cellular process once believed impossible by scientists – the creation of the amino acid cysteine within a living cell when the cell’s primary systems to do so fail. The discovery may one day lead to new cancer treatments.