A genetic switch that activates immune cells as they fight tumours: this is the new strategy developed by an international research team coordinated by Velia Siciliano at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT – Italian Institute of Technology) in Naples and described in the scientific journal Nature Communications. The study marks another step towards engineering precise and more effective synthetic immunotherapies against solid tumours, such as melanoma and breast cancer.

Cirrhosis once viewed as irreversible, can improve after effective treatment, but recovery may not be complete or permanent. Researchers from China propose recognizing recompensation as a distinct treatment-related disease state and distinguishing stable from unstable recovery. Evidence across liver diseases shows that recompensation improves outcomes compared with persistent decompensation, while some patients later relapse. The framework could support more consistent research, clinical assessment, and long-term surveillance for patients recovering after cirrhosis treatment.

This authoritative review synthesizes 5 years of pivotal clinical and translational advances in esophageal cancer (EC), encompassing molecular pathogenesis, genomic and epigenetic landscapes, targeted therapeutic modalities and the tumor immune microenvironment. It underscores breakthroughs of immunotherapy in EC management while acknowledging slower progress in targeted treatments. Promising future directions include TKIs, CDK4/6 inhibitors, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway modulators, epigenetic regulators, ADCs, and rational combination strategies to overcome drug resistance and improve long-term patient survival outcomes.