Stem-cell memory T (T_SCM) cells are a rare subset of immune cells with the ability to self-renew, persist long term, and mount potent anti-tumor responses. These properties make them an attractive candidate for next-generation CAR T-cell therapies. However, their clinical potential has not previously been demonstrated in humans. An international team of researchers co-led by Professor Luca Gattinoni from the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT) and Dr. James Kochenderfer from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), has now published a new study in Cell reporting, for the first time, that CAR T cells designed to acquire a T_SCM phenotype demonstrate a favorable safety profile and can induce complete remissions at remarkably low doses without the chemotherapy preconditioning, which is typically used in CAR T-cell therapy to enhance engraftment.

A deadly cancer, adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, may be largely preventable through targeted maternal screening, a national study finds. Caribbean-born individuals in the U.S. face rates more than 30 times higher, driven by a virus passed from mother to child—highlighting a clear, missed opportunity for prevention.

Activated immune cells secrete tiny capsules bearing DNA that can enter other immune and tumor cells to stimulate the body’s defense systems, according to a study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine. The discovery extends the scientific understanding of the immune system, identifies a new strategy for boosting immunity against cancers and potentially offers a new tool for delivering genetic payloads to other cells.

Between December 2024 and February 2025, ten newborns with hypoxic-ischemic brain injury were treated with breast milk administered through the nasal passages using a special method at Semmelweis University in Budapest. A study on this novel and promising therapeutic approach was recently published in Pediatric Research, one of the most prestigious scientific journals under the Nature portfolio. The procedure is expected to help mitigate the consequences of brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation, and breast milk delivered intranasally may become a safe therapeutic tool for long-term use even in controlled home environments.

Breast cancer remains a leading cause of malignancy-related mortality among women globally, with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) posing a significant clinical challenge due to its aggressive nature and early metastatic potential. Previous studies have implicated obesity in driving tumor progression, often associating it with diminished therapeutic responses and poor survival outcomes.

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is the most common malignancy of the biliary system, often presenting with an abysmal prognosis due to its high propensity for early lymph node metastasis. While previous research has linked the reactivation of the highly conserved translation elongation factor eEF1A2 to poor outcomes in various cancers, its exact functional mechanisms driving GBC metastasis have remained elusive.

Cancer cells survive by repairing damage to their DNA—even damage that would normally be fatal. One of their most important defense systems is homologous recombination, a high-precision repair pathway that fixes broken DNA using key proteins such as RAD51 and CHK1. While therapies such as PARP inhibitors have successfully targeted this vulnerability, many tumors eventually regain their DNA repair ability and become resistant to treatment.

A research team led by Director MYUNG Kyungjae at the Center for Genomic Integrity within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), in collaboration with LEE Joo-Yong (Chungnam University) has now uncovered a new strategy to overcome this resistance. Their findings show that cancer cells can be made vulnerable again—not by altering genetic mutations, but by destabilizing the DNA repair machinery itself.