https://medicalxpress.com/cancer-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Oncology An investigational targeted therapy designed to block one of the most common genetic drivers of pancreatic cancer has shown promising early results when combined with standard first-line chemotherapy, according to research presented today at the ESMO Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress 2026. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-therapy-early-results-advanced-pancreatic.html Sun, 05 Jul 2026 09:20:03 EDT news702217562 A new study from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has uncovered how one of the most common genetic alterations in glioma rewires the cancer cell genome to fuel tumor progression, suggesting a potential new therapeutic strategy for patients with ATRX-mutant gliomas. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-common-brain-cancer-mutation-dna.html Sat, 04 Jul 2026 10:40:01 EDT news702211405 Unlike accidental cell death, some cells can actively decide to die through a controlled process. This is called programmed cell death and can occur in different forms, including apoptosis and necroptosis. Cells use this process when they are damaged, stressed, becoming cancerous, or infected by harmful microbes. This self-destruction mechanism helps to protect the body, but it is also involved in many diseases, such as infections, inflammatory conditions and cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-cancer-cells-die-immune-anti.html Fri, 03 Jul 2026 15:00:03 EDT news702290201 Cancer immunotherapy drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can be miracle drugs for cancer patients, curing some and turning deadly disease into a manageable chronic condition in others. But these drugs work for only a subset of patients, with few indications why—a knowledge gap that has detrimental effects on patient prognosis, clinical trial recruitment and research that could lead to new therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ai-tool-cancer-immunotherapy-drugs.html Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:40:01 EDT news702290081 According to the Cleveland Clinic, a quarter of cancer deaths can be attributed to one source: cachexia. Cachexia is a syndrome that accompanies underlying chronic illness and causes unwanted muscle and fat loss, reducing quality of life and sometimes even limiting treatment options. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-lung-cancer-tumors-hijacking-nervous.html Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:20:05 EDT news702290458 Researchers led by Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt and Goethe University Frankfurt have identified how particularly aggressive forms of lymphoma can be recognized. By combining genetic and proteomic analyses, the scientists identified biological characteristics of tumors, particularly in high-risk patients for whom standard therapy offers little chance of cure. In the future, such patients could receive alternative, more effective therapies directly. In addition, experimental laboratory research provided initial clues to potential therapeutic targets. The study is published in Cancer Cell. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-tumor-high-cell-lymphoma-standard.html Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:00:03 EDT news702290362 A new study led by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center found that at least $230 million was spent on cancer care delivered outside Hawaiʻi between 2021 and 2023, highlighting the significant financial impact of geographic isolation on patients and the health care system. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-patients-hawaii-spent-230m-state.html Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:00:05 EDT news702286186 People living in rural America are more likely to view cancer as a death sentence, a new survey reports. About 43% of people living in rural areas say a cancer diagnosis means inevitable death, compared to 35% of people in urban or suburban locales, according to the new poll from the Prevent Cancer Foundation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-rural-americans-view-cancer-death.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 21:40:01 EDT news702209991 Risk-based strategies are superior to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) criteria for optimizing efficiency and minimizing variation of lung cancer screening across racial and ethnic groups, according to a study published online June 30 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-based-strategies-superior-task-criteria.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 19:20:03 EDT news702217498 Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have demonstrated that it is possible to create early germ cells from preserved testicular tissue of young boys facing cancer therapy. The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction Open, may eventually contribute to new ways of protecting and restoring fertility after childhood cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-testicular-tissue-early-germ-cells.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:40:01 EDT news702204548 Primary CNS lymphoma is a rare cancer that arises from malignant white blood cells. Affected individuals develop tumors in the brain and, more rarely, in the spinal cord, the eyes or within the cerebrospinal fluid. These lymphomas can occur in people with weakened immune systems, for example after organ transplantation, in autoimmune diseases or in association with HIV infection. This subtype, known as immunodeficiency-associated primary CNS lymphoma (ID-PCNSL), affects approximately 50 people per year in Germany. Researchers at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University had already shown in earlier work that ID-PCNSL is not simply a variant of classical CNS lymphoma, but a distinct disease entity characterized by specific genetic alterations. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-virus-rare-brain-lymphomas-large.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:20:02 EDT news702210247 For patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), adding pirtobrutinib to venetoclax-rituximab (PVR) yields improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared to venetoclax-rituximab (VR), according to a study presented at the annual congress of the European Hematology Association, held from June 11 to 14 in Stockholm. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-eha-adding-pirtobrutinib-venetoclax-rituximab.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:00:03 EDT news702209858 A new study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has identified a way to tailor drug combinations based on specific tumor biology to improve outcomes for treatment-resistant advanced melanoma. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-biomarker-drug-combos-treatment-resistant.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:40:04 EDT news702228481 A new study by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has identified genetic factors that determine whether prostate cancers are susceptible to a type of cell death known as ferroptosis. These findings, published in Nature Communications, could help guide treatment strategies for patients whose tumors do not respond to current treatment options. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-prostate-cancer-mutations-reveal-responses.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:40:03 EDT news702223621 Each additional hour of prolonged, uninterrupted sedentary behavior in a person's day is associated with a 9% higher risk of cancer death, according to a study published in PLOS Medicine by Frederick Ho of the University of Glasgow, UK, and colleagues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-bouts-linked-cancer.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:00:02 EDT news702204481 Researchers at Tel Aviv University's Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences have uncovered how a natural and essential immune system process can be hijacked to promote cancer progression. In a new study, the research team developed an advanced technology that enabled it to track macrophages, immune system cells, in real time and reveal how they alter their behavior within a cancerous tumor after consuming dead cancer cells. The findings may pave the way for the development of new treatments targeting the specific macrophages identified in the study, restoring the immune system's ability to fight the tumor instead of helping it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-tumors-hijack-macrophages-dead-cells.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:20:07 EDT news702210506 Oral cancer is a major health challenge in India, where tobacco and areca nut use contribute substantially to the disease burden. Despite advances in surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, treatment remains difficult because current approaches can damage healthy tissues along with cancer cells, often affecting patients' quality of life. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ultrasound-oral-cancer-cells.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:20:03 EDT news702204977 The development of cancer is not a process triggered immediately by the emergence of an oncogenic mutation. There is growing evidence for the existence of an intermediate phase—hitherto poorly defined—in which mutated cells remain in a latent state, "accumulating the potential needed to grow, like a biological time bomb," explains Antonio Gentilella, a professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences at the University of Barcelona and head of the Cancer Metabolism Research Group at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), part of the Bellvitge Campus. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-cancer-uncovers-hidden-mutation-tumor.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:40:01 EDT news702203560 Cancer researchers at the Sylvester Firefighter Cancer Initiative (SFCI), part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, took a rare step to better understand the cancer risks wildland firefighters face: They became wildland firefighters themselves. The firsthand experience is shaping a new study of smoke, heat, heavy gear and environmental exposures as Wildland Firefighter Week of Remembrance, June 30–July 6, brings national attention to the dangers of the job. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-lab-cancer-wildland-firefighters.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 07:40:01 EDT news702189301 Cancer cells are quick to develop resistance to anti-tumor drugs. New research by scientists from the University of California, Davis, shows how cancers adapt to evade a class of anti-tumor drugs called BET inhibitors and offers hope for more effective therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-discovery-cancer-drug-resistance.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 18:20:05 EDT news702143401 Researchers at Cima and Clinica Universidad de Navarra have identified new molecular mechanisms underlying multiple myeloma. This type of hematologic cancer, which affects the bone marrow, is characterized by its resistance to treatment, leading to relapses in patients. The researchers' paper is published in the journal Blood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-identification-molecular-markers-multiple-myeloma.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 17:00:02 EDT news702137521 Researchers at VIB and KU Leuven, with international partners, have uncovered how fatty liver disease can fuel the most aggressive form of metastatic colorectal cancer. The findings, which appear in the journal Nature, not only explain why some patients face dramatically poorer outcomes but also highlight how metabolic conditions such as fatty liver disease may directly influence cancer progression, paving the way for more precise therapies tailored to a patient's metabolic health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-fatty-liver-dangerous-colorectal-cancer.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 16:40:07 EDT news702135721 A growing number of prostate cancer experts argue that calling the lowest-risk prostate cancer "cancer" does more harm than good. A new UCLA-led study found removing the cancer label could dramatically reduce overtreatment and encourage more men to get screened, potentially leading to significantly fewer deaths from aggressive prostate cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-lowest-prostate-cancer.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 16:00:11 EDT news702131221 Results of the ongoing eNRGy trial, a single-arm, multicenter, global Phase II clinical trial evaluating zenocutuzumab in solid tumors positive for Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) gene fusions, reported manageable side effects and clinically meaningful efficacy—including a near doubling of progression-free survival compared with expectations with standard of care—in previously treated patients with advanced NRG1-positive cholangiocarcinoma. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-results-phase-ii-trial-therapy.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 16:00:09 EDT news702120421 When a patient needs a stem cell transplant, finding a registered donor is only the first step. Some potential donors drop out before confirmatory typing, reducing the pool from which doctors can choose. Researchers from Osaka University and collaborators tested whether a small change in wording could help more donors continue. This study is published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-simple-message-stem-cell-donors.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:00:14 EDT news702129722 A new form of CAR T-cell therapy has been designed to find and destroy the cancer-driving stem cells responsible for a group of blood cancers known as myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), while leaving healthy blood cells unharmed, according to new research led by UCL and University of Oxford researchers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-car-cell-therapy-key-mutation.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:00:03 EDT news702115621 For people at high risk of developing breast cancer, yearly mammograms may not be enough to detect tumors early. To make earlier diagnosis easier, an MIT team has developed portable detectors based on ultrasound, which could be used much more frequently. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-portable-ultrasound-reliable-breast-imaging.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:00:02 EDT news702124681 Researchers at the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging have uncovered evidence that a single genetic variant may influence the risk of two of the diseases people fear most—dementia and cancer—but in opposite ways. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-gene-diseases-reveals-opposing-dementia.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:08 EDT news702123901 A new study has revealed the hundreds of thousands of skin cancer appointments and medical procedures Queenslanders are attending and undergoing each year, prompting experts to call for further investment in prevention campaigns to protect public health and ease pressure on the health care system. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-skin-cancer-health.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:40:01 EDT news702122941 The first-in-patient, single-arm ARC-20 clinical trial, led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Toni K. Choueiri, MD, has evaluated casdatifan, a next-generation HIF-2α inhibitor, as monotherapy for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common subtype of kidney cancer. Patients eligible for the study were previously treated with standard therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-generation-hif-inhibitor-kidney-cancer.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:00:16 EDT news702048243