A wife and husband professor team at Michigan State University are collaborating with researchers at the University of California, Riverside to create a new light-activated “smart” bomb to treat aggressive breast cancer.

Sophia Lunt, an MSU professor in biochemistry and molecular biology in the College of Natural Science, and Richard Lunt, an MSU professor and Johansen-Crosby Endowed Professor in Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering, along with Vincent Lavallo, a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Riverside, have combined their expertise to help develop new light-sensitive chemicals called cyanine-carborane salts that are used in photodynamic therapy, or PDT, to destroy metastatic breast cancer tumors in mice with minimal side effects.

 

The immune-related genes in the colorectal cancer (CRC) microenvironment are closely associated with patient prognosis and the efficacy of immunotherapy. Professor Wang's group established a novel machine learning-based model to predict prognosis and immunotherapy responses in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. The authors integrated clinical and transcriptomic data using machine learning techniques and established the Immune Response-related Risk Score (IRRS) model in CRC. The IRRS model is based on 13 core immune-related genes from machine learning techniques, and demonstrates strong associations with tumor progression, immune infiltration, and therapy response. The IRRS model outperforms several existing tools, offering a more accurate and clinically relevant approach to personalized cancer treatment.

A “weekend warrior” approach to physical activity — getting 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity over one to two days instead of throughout the week — improved health and lowered the risk of death, finds a new study in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Precious metals are not merely ornaments; they are also important components of pharmaceuticals, like the antitumor drug cisplatin. Recently, the search for alternatives with improved activity has begun to focus on gold. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a French research team has now published the first study about the speciation and distribution of an organogold(III) complex in cancer cells and reveals how specially designed “organogold” complexes might open exciting avenues for fighting cancer.

AI-powered, internet-connected medical devices have the potential to revolutionise healthcare, a new study suggests.