https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Cells from cancerous tumors can spread, or metastasize, throughout the body. Researchers have long sought to understand what determines where those cells will go and thrive in order to more effectively treat the cancer and prevent metastasis. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) have now identified biological markers for a rare, aggressive eye cancer that predict the likelihood of secondary tumors forming in the liver. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-eye-cancer-genes-predetermine-liver.html Mon, 09 Feb 2026 09:59:52 EST news689853541 A key molecular mechanism drives the growth of liver cell cancer while simultaneously suppressing the body's immune response to the tumor. This has been published in the journal Nature by a team led by researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the University Hospital of Tübingen, and the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, California. However, the results also show that this very mechanism could help identify patients who respond particularly well to immunotherapy in the future, thus opening up new therapeutic approaches. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-edged-sword-chronic-cellular-stress.html Wed, 04 Feb 2026 11:00:10 EST news689319721 Scientists have created a complete map showing how hundreds of possible mutations in a key cancer gene influence tumor growth. The study focused on CTNNB1, a gene that produces the protein β-catenin, which helps regulate tissue growth and repair. When β-catenin is disrupted, cells can begin uncontrolled growth—a hallmark of cancer. The work is published in Nature Genetics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-mutation-key-cancer-gene-tumor.html Mon, 02 Feb 2026 05:00:06 EST news689004661 Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified an important immune response that helps explain why some cancer patients benefit from immunotherapy while others do not. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-antibody-immune-cells-cancer-immunotherapy.html Tue, 27 Jan 2026 19:50:01 EST news688744223 Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized cancer therapy by harnessing the body's immune system to target tumors. Despite their initial clinical success, many patients eventually experience diminished therapeutic responses as tumors acquire resistance. A new study from Taiwan now elucidates the underlying mechanisms of this resistance and proposes a promising strategy to counteract it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-blocking-key-gene-immune-response.html Mon, 29 Dec 2025 06:10:01 EST news686207976 Lung cancer is the second-most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Over 80% of lung cancers are non-small cell lung cancers, in which tumor cells are larger and grow more slowly than those in small cell lung cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-molecular-stabilizes-protein-inhibits-small.html Wed, 17 Dec 2025 15:00:36 EST news685206001 Prevention and treatment advances are reducing the number of new liver cancer patients and narrowing survival gaps among racial groups, a Cedars-Sinai Cancer study published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology reports. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-liver-cancer-treatment-efforts.html Mon, 08 Dec 2025 08:24:41 EST news684404642 A new Cedars-Sinai Cancer study shows that patients with advanced liver cancer who receive immunotherapy to shrink their tumors have improved outcomes after liver transplant or tumor removal. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-surgery-immunotherapy-boosts-survival-liver.html Fri, 14 Nov 2025 05:58:03 EST news682322281 The Herpes simplex virus is a widespread virus that often causes cold sores, and most people carry it. By removing a virulence gene, i.e. a gene that makes the virus harmful to humans, the herpes virus can be repurposed as a cancer vaccine. This modification prevents the virus from harming healthy tissue while allowing it to target cancer cells, which function differently from normal cells. These findings are presented in a new doctoral thesis at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-herpes-virus-based-vaccine-tumors.html Wed, 01 Oct 2025 14:29:03 EDT news678547742 The most common type of liver cancer in children, hepatoblastoma, surprisingly appears to contain many immune cells from a type that has long been overlooked. This is according to a study by researchers at the Princess Máxima Center and UMC Utrecht. The discovery of these myeloid cells in liver tumors unveils new avenues for treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-myeloid-immune-cells-immunotherapy-liver.html Mon, 29 Sep 2025 13:20:09 EDT news678369062 Dr. Vadim Jucaud's lab at the Terasaki Institute has developed a human vascularized liver cancer-on-a-chip model to evaluate vessel remodeling and cell death in response to embolic agents. This novel platform reflects the microenvironment of liver tumors, particularly a functional and perfusable microvasculature that can be embolized. This in vitro tool aligns with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) efforts to reduce animal testing and promote alternative methods, including microfluidic devices that mimic human organs. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-embolization-chip-embolic-agent-classes.html Thu, 04 Sep 2025 04:31:47 EDT news676179102 A study published in Cell Reports Medicine reports a scalable, data-driven computational framework for designing combinatorial immunotherapies, offering hope for patients with poor responses to current immunotherapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-tool-compounds-cancer-immunotherapy-effectiveness.html Wed, 06 Aug 2025 09:13:03 EDT news673690382 Liver cancer cells thrive on fat, posing a serious risk of cancer diagnosis for millions of people living with fatty liver disease. But researchers at McMaster University in collaboration with Espervita Therapeutics have developed a promising new treatment that helps the immune system attack and destroy these tumors. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-drug-immune-liver-cancer-blocking.html Wed, 30 Jul 2025 11:00:01 EDT news673074497 In order to produce effective targeted therapies for cancer, scientists need to isolate the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of cancer cells, both within and across different tumors, because those differences impact how tumors respond to treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-ai-uncovers-hidden-cell-subtypes.html Mon, 14 Jul 2025 09:09:24 EDT news671702957 A new study led by investigators at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center may help explain why certain liver tumors return quickly after thermal ablation, a widely used minimally-invasive, image-guided technique that kills cancer cells by applying intense heat through a needle-like probe. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-key-protein-liver-cancer-resist.html Thu, 10 Jul 2025 14:33:05 EDT news671376782 Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer globally and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Accurate segmentation of liver tumors is a crucial step for the management of the disease, but manual segmentation by radiologists is labor-intensive and often results in variations based on expertise. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-ai-high-accuracy-liver-tumor.html Mon, 16 Jun 2025 13:57:15 EDT news669301027 Yale researchers are providing new insights into how physical forces, such as cells being compressed in physically restrictive environments, play key roles in cancer progression. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-05-liver-cancer-cells-pressure-compression.html Tue, 20 May 2025 10:20:05 EDT news666954911 Investigators of the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology's (VHIO) Radiomics Group, led by Raquel Perez-Lopez, have developed SALSA (System for Automatic Liver tumor Segmentation And detection), a fully automated deep learning-driven tool for the precise and completely automated detection and monitoring of liver tumors (hepatocellular carcinoma). Results of this work have been published in Cell Reports Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-05-ai-tool-automates-liver-tumor.html Tue, 06 May 2025 12:20:04 EDT news665752801 A protein identified nearly 40 years ago for its ability to stimulate the production of red blood cells plays a surprising, critical role in dampening the immune system's response to cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-blocking-master-immunity-eradicates-liver.html Thu, 24 Apr 2025 14:00:04 EDT news664694761 For cancers of organs like the liver, the long-term impact of our diet has been well studied—so much so that we have guidance about red meat, wine and other delicacies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-easier-link-diet-lung-cancer.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 15:15:52 EDT news661097747 Researchers from Tel Aviv University utilized CRISPR to cut a single gene from cancer cells of head and neck tumors—and successfully eliminated 50% of the tumors in model animals. This study was led by Dr. Razan Masarwy, MD, Ph.D. from the lab of Prof. Dan Peer. The findings are published in the journal Advanced Science. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-crispr-gene-neck-cancers-tumors.html Tue, 11 Mar 2025 12:15:03 EDT news660914101 A guardian molecule ensures that liver cells do not lose their identity. This has been discovered by researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Hector Institute für Translational Brain Research (HITBR), and from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-guardian-molecule-cells-track-perspectives.html Thu, 13 Feb 2025 05:00:05 EST news658574161 The risk of developing liver cancer is increased in people who have cirrhosis, a disease in which healthy liver tissue is replaced by scar tissue. The scar tissue blocks the flow of blood through the liver and keeps it from functioning as it should, and patients with advanced liver cancer and cirrhosis are normally considered unsuitable for surgery or transplant. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-immunotherapy-liver-tumors-enabling-surgery.html Mon, 10 Feb 2025 15:57:36 EST news658425421 T-cells from the liver and lymph nodes show promising potential for future treatments of liver cancer, according to a new study. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have investigated how immune cells react to tumor-specific antigens in the complex environment surrounding liver cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-cell-analysis-reveals-potential-personalized.html Thu, 30 Jan 2025 09:36:04 EST news657452162 Like many rare diseases, fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FLC) mounts a ferocious attack against an unlucky few—in this case, children, adolescents, and young adults. Because its symptoms can vary from person to person, it's often missed or misdiagnosed until it has metastasized and becomes lethal. Moreover, drug therapies for common liver cancers are not just useless for FLC patients but actually harmful. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-unique-characteristics-rare-liver-cancer.html Sat, 18 Jan 2025 03:27:18 EST news656393228 Immunotherapy is a modern approach to cancer treatment that uses a patient's own immune system to help fight tumors. It has made an incredible impact on treating cancers in many different organ systems, including the lung, kidney, and bladder—but for other cancers, such as liver cancer, the therapy has been much less effective. This discrepancy is especially concerning as liver cancer rates have nearly tripled in the last 40 years. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-bile-acids-impair-liver-cancer.html Tue, 14 Jan 2025 15:24:05 EST news656090641 Dan G. Duda, DMD, Ph.D., of the Edwin L. Steele Laboratories for Tumor Biology and Department of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, is the corresponding author of a paper published in Cancer Immunology Research, "Combination CXCR4 and PD1 Blockade Enhances Intratumoral Dendritic Cell Activation and Immune Responses Against Hepatocellular Carcinoma." https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-qa-liver-cancer-outcomes-immunotherapy.html Mon, 16 Dec 2024 07:47:05 EST news653557621 Researchers at the University of Cologne and the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have discovered that cancer grows uniformly throughout its mass, rather than at the outer edges. The work, published in the journal eLife, challenges decades-old assumptions about how the disease grows and spreads. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-spatial-genomics-approach-cancers-uniformly.html Tue, 26 Nov 2024 16:22:20 EST news651860536 An international team led by Goethe University Frankfurt has identified an intracellular sensor that monitors the quality of so-called MHC-I molecules, which help the immune system recognize and kill harmful cells, including tumor cells. The sensor ensures that defective MHC-I molecules remain inside the cell, where they are eventually degraded. Surprisingly, a lack of this quality assurance can lead to more MHC-I molecules reaching the surface of cancer cells, triggering a stronger immune response against the tumor. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-team-mechanism-cancer-cell-immune.html Wed, 06 Nov 2024 15:06:04 EST news650127961 A newly described stage of a lymph node-like structure seen in liver tumors after presurgical immunotherapy may be vital to successfully treating patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-lymph-node-trigger-demise-cancer.html Fri, 25 Oct 2024 05:00:01 EDT news649003681