Current drugs for pancreatic cancer lose effectiveness within months because the tumour becomes resistant. The group from Spain’s National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) has been able to avoid the development of resistance in animal models with a combined triple therapy.

 

These results “pave the way for the design of combined therapies that may improve survival,” the authors indicate, although this will not happen in the short term. The results are published in PNAS.

 

Mariano Barbacid, head of the Experimental Oncology Group at CNIO, emphasises that “we are not yet in a position to carry out clinical trials with this triple therapy.”

New study reveals a central role of GXYLT2 in Wnt/β-catenin–mediated progression of diffuse-type gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is a highly heterogeneous malignancy with substantial variability in clinical outcomes, particularly between intestinal and diffuse subtypes. Despite advances in molecular profiling, reliable biomarkers that both stratify prognosis and illuminate actionable mechanisms remain limited. Increasing evidence suggests that aberrant glycosylation contributes to tumor progression, yet the clinical and functional relevance of glycosyltransferases in gastric cancer remains incompletely defined.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent malignancy worldwide, characterized by a propensity to metastasize to the liver — a condition known as colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRLM). Patients with CRLM have a poor prognosis, with a five-year survival rate ranging from 12% to 30%. Since aberrant Wnt signaling is a hallmark of metastatic cancers, elucidating its activation mechanisms and therapeutic targets may provide an effective strategy for treating these high-risk cancers

Metastasis-directed therapy (MDT) significantly improved outcomes in patients with oligometastatic prostate cancer, according to a new study from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center published today in Lancet Oncology.

RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is a short-lived molecule copied from DNA that enables cells to use genetic information. Specific DNA sequences are copied into RNA, which then delivers these instructions to the cellular machinery responsible for making proteins. Through this process, RNA acts as the go-between, translating DNA’s blueprints into real-time cellular activity. This research reveals an RNA molecule that regulates key cellular functions without turning into protein, thus functioning as a “non-coding” RNA CUL1-IPA that originates from the well-characterized CUL1 protein-coding gene. Unlike the canonical RNA that produces the CUL1 protein, this newly discovered RNA stays in the nucleus. Instead, it performs a completely different cellular function, supporting the structural integrity and activity of the nucleolus, the essential center for ribosome production.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have developed a novel liquid biopsy approach to identify early-stage cancers by measuring the random variation in DNA methylation patterns, rather than the absolute level of those patterns as in other liquid biopsies.

MIT researchers developed a miniaturized ultrasound system that could make it easier for ultrasounds to be performed more often, either at home or at a doctor’s office. The system could help more breast tumors to be diagnosed at earlier stages.

DNA’s iconic double helix does more than “just” store genetic information. Under certain conditions it can temporarily fold into unusual shapes. Researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, have now shown that one such structure, known as i-DNA, not only forms in living cells but also acts as a regulatory bottleneck linked to cancer.