Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has been awarded a five-year, $10.8 million grant to further its exceptional programs in leukemia and other blood cancers. The grant, from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), renews funding for a prestigious Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in leukemia. The NCI’s SPORE program is designed to support translational research that moves discoveries from the lab to the clinic.

Prostate cancer, especially in advanced stages such as castration-resistant prostate cancer, is challenging to treat. Traditional therapies targeting androgen receptor (AR) signaling have limited efficacy. In a recent study, Japanese researchers investigated the potential of azolato-bridged dinuclear platinum(II) complexes, particularly 5-H-Y, as promising alternatives. Their findings highlight the complex’s ability to inhibit AR signaling and induce cell death in prostate cancer cells, providing a new avenue for prostate cancer treatment.

Microbes living in our guts help us digest food by reshaping the bile acids that our livers produce for breaking down fats. It turns out that two of these microbially-modified bile acids may affect our risk — in opposite directions — for developing colon cancer.

            The link between these bile acids and colon cancer risk was recently uncovered as University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists sought to better understand the relationship between gut microbes and our bodies.