Machine learning
AI predicts which drug combinations kill cancer cells
Researchers in Finland have developed a machine learning model that can help us treat cancer more effectively.
Cancer
Breast cancer
Cancer cells 'remove blindfold' to spread
Cancer cells spread by switching on and off abilities to sense their surroundings, move, hide and grow new tumors, a new study has found. This sensitivity to their surroundings is the key ability that makes small numbers of cancer cells better at spreading than other cells in a tumor.
Real-time radiation plans, X-core MRI
Significant advances in medical physics
To target ionised radiation as precisely as possible, imaging a tumour is vital in radiotherapy planning. ‘Today, imaging is used increasingly during the therapy itself,’ explained Professor Mark Ladd, Head of Medical Physics in the Department of Radiology at the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany, and President of the German Society for Medical Physics (DGMP), during…
New mechanism of action
A small-molecule degrades a cancer-promoting
"Molecular glue degraders" are a new class of cancer drugs, which "glue" cancer growth-promoting proteins directly to the molecular machinery of a cell's disposal system, leading to the subsequent degradation of the cancer-driving proteins and anti-tumor activity. Scientists from Heidelberg and USA have now deciphered another mechanism whereby a small molecule can degrade a…
Intratumoral B cells
Another side to cancer immunotherapy?
Scientists report on their detailed look at B cells' presence inside tumors. B cells represent the other major arm of the adaptive immune system, besides T cells, and could offer opportunities for new treatments against some kinds of cancers.
Genome editing system
CRISPR-based treatment destroys cancer cells
Researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU) have demonstrated that the CRISPR/Cas9 system is very effective in treating metastatic cancers, a significant step on the way to finding a cure for cancer.
Finding therapeutic targets
Pancreatic cancer: Seeking viable treatment strategies
Pancreatic cancer has the worst survival rate of any cancers, with immunotherapies currently offering negligible treatment benefits for patients. To help identify new therapeutic approaches, researchers from the University of Oxford have been focusing on leukocyte infiltration as a prognostic marker of the disease. Their study and findings were outlined by Dr Shivan Sivakumar during a session…
Study uncovers mechanisms
Predicting susceptibility to cancer-causing agents in the environment
New insights into the mechanisms behind how cancer-causing agents in the environment activate genetic recombination in DNA could help to explain some of the effects of exposure as well as predicting which individuals may be more susceptible to developing the disease, a new UK study has suggested.
Joint Imaging Platform (JIP)
If the data won't come to the algorithm...
The new Joint Imaging Platform – JIP for short – is a flexible, decentralized analysis platform for medical images. The JIP was initially developed for the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) sites. It is designed to facilitate cross-institutional imaging projects and to help meet the technical and legal challenges associated with the joint use of imaging data.
Immunotherapy side effect
Hope for kidney cancer patients
An autoimmune side effect of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) drugs could signal improved control of kidney cancer, according to a new study by researchers in UT Southwestern's Kidney Cancer Program (KCP).
Cancer diagnostics
A glimpse into the tumor in 3D
In order to analyze tumors, they have to be cut into thin slices. Now, a new technology has been developed that makes pieces of the tumor visible in 3D without cutting them.
Deep learning applied to MRI scans
Glioblastoma: Using AI to improve prognosis and treatment
In the first study of its kind in cancer, researchers have applied artificial intelligence to measure the amount of muscle in patients with brain tumours to help improve prognosis and treatment. Dr Ella Mi, a clinical research fellow at Imperial College London (UK) will tell the NCRI Virtual Showcase, that using deep learning to evaluate MRI brain scans of a muscle in the head was as accurate and…
Cancer research
New therapeutic approach against leukemia
Leukemia frequently originates from the so-called leukemic stem cell, which resides in a tumor promoting and protecting niche within the bone marrow. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany, have found a new way to make these cells vulnerable by specifically dislodging these cells from their niches.
Unique awareness campaign
Crafting quilts to fight pancreatic cancer
Chemistry researchers at the University of Strathclyde are aiming to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer – with the use of specially-made quilts. Fellow cancer researchers across the UK are being asked to send diagrams illustrating their work. These will then be used as the patterns for quilts made by skilled crafters. After the project is concluded, the Strathclyde researchers hope to be able…
One mouse at a time
New approach to testing potential drugs for children’s cancers
A team of researchers in the US and Australia have developed a way of testing potential drugs for children’s cancers so as to take account of the wide genetic diversity of these diseases. In new research to be presented at the 32th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, Professor Peter Houghton, director of the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute (San…
Interrelationship
Impact of COVID-19 on cancer treatment
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted virtually every aspect of cancer care and research– from introducing new risks for cancer patients to disrupting the delivery of cancer treatment and the continuity of cancer research.
High-capacity digital image analysis
Spatial statistics extract subvisual features
Spatial analytics offers greater clarity in the assessment of tumours beyond routine microscopic analysis. High-capacity digital image analysis enables new methods of spatial statistics to extract features not immediately distinguishable by visual inspection. These subvisual features reflect complex properties, such as intratumour heterogeneity and have the additional benefit that they can target…
Tissue analysis
Infrared spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool
New techniques of infrared-based technology are showing strong potential for cost-effective tissue analysis. Peter Gardner, Professor of Analytical and Biomedical Spectroscopy at the University of Manchester, outlined how hyperspectral imaging coupled with sophisticated computer algorithms can identify and grade cancerous tissue, as well as offer an indication of prognosis. The technique, he…
Study establishes link
Growth factor IGF-1 increases risk for several cancers
A study of almost 400,000 British participants has identified a new link between raised levels of the growth factor IGF-1 and increased thyroid cancer risk and has confirmed associations with breast, prostate and colorectal cancer. This could lead to new preventative strategies, including diet and lifestyle interventions.
Corona demographics
Why COVID-19 registries for cancer patients are so important
Cancer patients are at higher risk of contracting infections, because cancer can depress the body’s immune system. Chemotherapy treatment can also cause immunocompromisation. How does cancer impact patients who also contract COVID-19? Four cancer registries, one in the European Union, one in the United Kingdom, and two in the United States, have been established to collect this data.
Fossilised findings
Study shows: Even dinosaurs had cancer
A collaboration led by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and McMaster University has led to the discovery and diagnosis of an aggressive malignant bone cancer — an osteosarcoma — for the first time ever in a dinosaur. Examples of malignant cancers are very rare in the fossil record. The paper was published in the journal The Lancet Oncology. The cancerous bone in question is the fibula (lower…
Dietary dangers
Sugar consumption: a driving factor in onset of pancreatic cancer
A diet high in sugar increases the likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer in some people and can also drive the aggressive growth of tumours, a new study finds. During this study, researchers from the University of Surrey, VIB-KU Leuven, Belgium and the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, sought to understand the impact of diet on the development and progression of pancreatic cancer. This rare…
Cytosponge research
‘Pill on a string’ test could transform oesophageal cancer diagnosis
A ‘pill on a string’ test can identify ten times more people with Barrett’s oesophagus than the usual GP route, a new study shows. The test, which can be carried out by a nurse in a GP surgery, is also better at picking up abnormal cells and potentially early-stage cancer. Barrett’s oesophagus is a condition that can lead to oesophageal cancer in a small number of people. It’s usually…
Theranostics
Magnetic gold nanohybrid particles will help fight cancer
A team of scientists at the Russian National University of Science and Technology MISiS, together with colleagues from Russia and Germany, have presented a detailed study of magnetite-gold nanohybrids. In the future, such nanoparticles can help in theranostics — the diagnostics and subsequent therapy of oncological diseases. The results of the work have been published in the Journal of…
Cervical cancer
3D imaging system accelerates cancer diagnosis
Researchers have developed a novel three-dimensional imaging system to diagnose cervical cancer faster, non-invasively and more efficiently than conventional methods.