Researchers at UC San Diego have found a paradoxical new way in which cancer cells survive and regrow after targeted therapy: by hijacking a protein involved in cell death.

About The Study: Only approximately 1 in 5 eligible individuals in the U.S. underwent lung cancer screening (LCS) in 2024. Increasing current uptake to 100% could increase deaths prevented and life-years gained 3-fold. Efforts to increase uptake include improving awareness of LCS recommendations and access to LCS facilities, and targeting subgroups in whom LCS maximizes life-years gained.

Craniopharyngioma (CP), although histologically benign, is a surgically challenging sellar-region tumor for which stereotactic irradiation is increasingly used as an alternative or adjuvant strategy. This review summarizes the role of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in managing CP, with a focus on treatment outcomes, technical advances, and emerging strategies to support evidence-based clinical practice. Literature reports indicate that Gamma Knife radiosurgery achieves variable tumor control rates (36–100%), with optimal outcomes (79.6–91.4%) when marginal doses ≥12 Gy are delivered and patients receive adequate follow-up. Smaller tumors (<5 cm³) and those with higher solid components show particularly favorable outcomes. SRS demonstrates a favorable safety profile, with visual impairment occurring in approximately 4% of cases and endocrine dysfunction in 6%. Compared to conventional radiotherapy, SRS significantly reduces the risk of hypothalamic obesity in pediatric patients. The identification of BRAF mutations in papillary CPs has created novel opportunities for combining targeted therapies with SRS. Collectively, these advances underscore the role of SRS as an essential component of multidisciplinary CP management, particularly in the treatment of residual or recurrent lesions. It offers a more favorable toxicity profile and may improve quality of life outcomes compared to conventional radiotherapy. Further studies are needed to optimize patient selection, dosing strategies, and integration with novel systemic therapies.

Targeting and treating diseases first requires being able to find specific cells—which is challenging because they travel within the body and can “hide.”  Now, a new round of funding will support advancing technology invented at Case Western Reserve University that enhances the ability to locate therapeutic cells or diseased cells like cancer. Toward that goal, the National Institutes of Health awarded a $2.5 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant jointly to CWRU and BioInVision Inc.