https://medicalxpress.com/cancer-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Oncology A new study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has uncovered a previously unknown connection between nucleic acid structures called R-loops and age-related inflammation—or inflammaging—that could herald new intervention options for chronic inflammation and the subsequent health conditions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-age-inflammation-treatment-pathway.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 09:40:05 EDT news700903202 Vapes or e-cigarettes were marketed as a safer, smokeless alternative to traditional cigarettes and even promoted as a tool to help smokers quit. Their fruity flavors and sleek designs further reinforced the perception that they were a less harmful substitute for conventional tobacco products. While quitting smoking is known to reduce cancer risk over time, growing evidence suggests that switching to e-cigarettes may not be as harmless. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-vaping-people-ditch-cigarettes-lung.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 08:40:03 EDT news700818348 Duke-NUS scientists have discovered that aging muscle may contribute to cancer growth by releasing fewer extracellular vesicles, tiny particles that cells use to communicate with one another. Their study also found that the composition of these particles changes with age, weakening protective signals that help suppress tumor development. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-scientists-uncover-physical-older-adults.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 07:40:01 EDT news700897741 A new paper led by researchers at the University of Victoria's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) contributes to mounting evidence that alcohol use can cause pancreatic cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-alcohol-link-deadly-pancreatic-cancer.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 07:00:03 EDT news700891021 A comprehensive multi-cancer study by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has revealed that cancer cells within tumors are genetically diverse, yet all carry the same core genetic changes that can be traced back to a common ancestral cell, providing a single-cell view of how tumors adapt, survive and diversify. Understanding this helps explain why some cancer cells manage to survive treatment, paving the way for more tailored diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-cancers-cancer-cell-evolve-early.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 18:20:07 EDT news700846861 A study led by Georgia Institute of Technology's Associate Professor Costas Arvanitis takes a major step toward safer and more effective treatment and diagnosis of brain diseases. His team's research, published in Advanced Science, shows how combining artificial intelligence (AI) with focused ultrasound can safely deliver therapies and improve diagnostic interventions to the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-ai-ultrasound-bloodbrain-barrier-procedures.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:00:06 EDT news700845182 Cancer cells are remarkably good at adapting to stress. When treatments damage them, they often find new ways to survive, fueling drug resistance and disease progression. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-hidden-pim1-pathway-prostate-cancer.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 15:20:03 EDT news700838188 Researchers at the University of Cologne's Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC) have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that makes most pancreatic cancer cells susceptible to a form of programmed cell death. The team, led by Professor Dr. Silvia von Karstedt, showed that cancer cells with mutations in the KRAS gene develop a vulnerability that can be used to eliminate tumor cells in preclinical models. The findings open up new perspectives for treating pancreatic cancer. The study "Oncogenic KRAS-Driven type I Interferon Signalling Primes Pancreatic Cancer for Necroptosis" was published in the journal Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-pancreatic-cancer-strategy-kras-mutant.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 15:00:08 EDT news700834921 Belzutifan, a first-in-class drug that arose from scientific discoveries at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat some patients with earlier-stage kidney cancers in combination with an immunotherapy drug. This move marks the latest expansion of belzutifan's indications after it was originally approved in 2021. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-fda-kidney-cancer-drug-belzutifan.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:00:02 EDT news700809182 A human brain network associated with survival in children with diffuse midline glioma (DMG), the deadliest childhood brain cancer, has been identified by UCL clinician-scientists, raising the possibility of entirely new treatment approaches. The researchers found that DMG tumors seem to exploit the brain's existing neural circuitry to drive tumor growth and progression. Tumors that were more strongly connected to this network were associated with significantly shorter patient survival. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-clinicianscientists-brain-network-linked-deadliest.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 19:00:05 EDT news700755542 Screening people with the rare, inherited cancer-causing condition Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) brings both medical and economic benefits to patients and health care systems, according to research to be presented to the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-european-patients-inherited-cancer-substantial.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 18:10:03 EDT news700733462 Patients with multiple myeloma who received a new immunotherapy combination lived significantly longer without their cancer worsening and showed early signs of improved survival in a large international clinical trial. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-combo-treatment-delays-multiple-myeloma.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:50:03 EDT news700760821 Researchers from the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, together with key pioneers in glioma biology, neuro-oncology and stem cell biology, have published a comprehensive review in Society for Neuro-Oncology's journal Neuro-Oncology outlining the evolving landscape of glioma organoid technologies and proposing a foundational classification framework to guide translational brain tumor research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-glioma-organoid-classification-framework-brain.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:00:01 EDT news700739760 Anti-T-lymphocyte globulin (ATLG) for the prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) reduces complications and infection-related mortality compared with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from unrelated donors. Although PTCy was associated with fewer cases of acute (Grade II–IV) and chronic GvHD, this did not result in a survival benefit for patients with blood cancer. These initial results from the GRAPPA study were presented by DKMS as a late-breaking abstract at the European Hematology Association Congress (EHA 2026) in Stockholm. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-evidence-graft-host-disease-stem.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:50:01 EDT news700759741 Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have identified a target that may improve the response to CAR T-cell therapy, a treatment for patients with recurrent or difficult-to-treat blood cancers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-potential-car-cell-therapy-response.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:40:12 EDT news700758513 Dual-target CAR T-cell therapy for recurrent glioblastoma (GBM), delivered directly into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), triggers a broad immune response, with natural killer (NK) cell activation linked to better patient outcomes and longer overall survival. CSF of individuals who did not respond to the therapy exhibited a higher proportion of activated regulatory T cells (Tregs) and high baseline levels of immunosuppressive scavenger myeloid cells, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, published in Cell. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-immune-success-dual-car-therapy.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:20:04 EDT news700752355 Tumor cells can lapse into a sleep-like state and thereby evade the destructive effect of cancer drugs. In some types of the disease, such as certain forms of lung cancer, this state is triggered by stress hormones in the body. Inside the cancer cells, glucocorticoid receptors recognize the hormones, and the cells respond by lapsing into a state in which they undergo barely any division. This renders many treatments ineffective. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-lung-cancer-cells-dormant-state.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:00:08 EDT news700752001 Triplet therapy with pirtobrutinib, venetoclax and rituximab as a two-year fixed-duration therapy improves progression-free survival for patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) compared with standard-of-care venetoclax plus rituximab therapy, according to interim data from the randomized, phase 3 BRUIN CLL-322 clinical trial. Matthew Davids, MD, MMSc, chief of the Division of Lymphoma at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, presented the results in the Late-Breaking Abstract session at the European Hematology Association 2026 Congress in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 14, 2026. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-duration-triplet-therapy-efficacy-patients.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:20:01 EDT news700741801 QIMR Berghofer scientists have uncovered hundreds of genes that play a role in the growth of both moles and melanoma, in a discovery that could lead to new ways of preventing and treating the deadliest form of skin cancer. The world's largest genetics study of "moliness," published in Nature Communications, is unraveling the complex causes of both moles and melanomas that are not related to well-known risks caused by sun exposure, skin color and pigmentation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-world-largest-genetic-moliness-unravel.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:40:06 EDT news700746783 Scientists at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have developed a new stain-free imaging platform designed to analyze tissue samples more quickly and consistently, supporting future AI-assisted cancer diagnostics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-silicon-imaging-cancer-diagnosis-agreement.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:20:01 EDT news700746662 Certain white blood cells in the immune system, known as neutrophils, can make cancer immunotherapy less effective, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Immunity. The results show that a signaling molecule in the tumor affects neutrophils, reducing the effect of treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-immunotherapy-tumor-triggered-neutrophils-cancer.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:40:10 EDT news700742702 You might think of cancer as a mass of rogue cells that grow uncontrollably. But cancer is more organized and strategic than that. Rather, cancer is a tightly controlled cellular neighborhood that can keep the body's defenses out or weaken them once they get in. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-cancer-requires-immune-cells-infiltrate.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:20:01 EDT news700740362 Cancer drugs can shrink fast-growing tumors. But sometimes a few tumor cells survive. These "persister" cells seed new tumors, forcing cancer patients into arduous cycles of testing and treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-cancers-robotic-mini-tumor-ways.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:00:05 EDT news700737318 Prostate-targeted, engineered nanoparticles made of amorphous silica are effective in killing prostate tumors directly while enhancing antitumor immunity, according to a preclinical study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-experimental-treatment-prostate-tumor-cells.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 10:00:10 EDT news700735501 Researchers from Flinders University say that building lung cancer screening programs that include strong, consistent and long-term quit-smoking support could play a crucial role in preventing smoking-related deaths. The new review published in JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that although many screening programs are beginning to offer smoking cessation assistance, most are not yet designed to deliver the full benefit. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-focuses-sustaining-cessation-lung-cancer.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 09:40:06 EDT news700733222 Scientists at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research have discovered how Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium responsible for most stomach cancers and peptic ulcers, delivers a key disease-causing protein into human cells. This breakthrough provides new insight into how H. pylori modulates chronic inflammation and promotes cancer, potentially opening new diagnostic and therapeutic pathways. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-pylori-extracellular-vesicles-stomach-cancer.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 09:20:04 EDT news700731062 New research in the June 2026 issue of Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network finds that small, targeted prompts delivered to both patients and providers at the right moment can significantly increase the number of serious illness conversations that take place. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-nudges-honor-patients-cancer.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 09:00:01 EDT news700486573 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy, plus belzutifan, a HIF-2α inhibitor, as adjuvant treatment for adult patients with renal cell carcinoma with a clear cell component (ccRCC) at intermediate-high or high risk of recurrence following nephrectomy, with or without resection of metastatic lesions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-fda-combination-therapy-higher-cell.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 07:40:01 EDT news700717921 New research to be presented today at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics shows that a cancer patient's genetic ancestry can have a significant effect both on how their disease progresses and their survival. In the largest study of its kind, researchers examined nearly 1,900 specific genetic changes in tumors to measure whether certain mutations were more common in patients with different historic geographic origins. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-genetic-tumor-analyses-enables-survival.html Sun, 14 Jun 2026 18:10:01 EDT news700482241 Researchers at National Taiwan University refined a pseudo-germ-free mouse model to make gut microbiome studies safer for mice and more reliable. Using this model, they found that antibiotic-driven changes in gut microbes suppressed pancreatic tumor growth and enhanced the effect of gemcitabine chemotherapy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-refined-pseudo-germ-free-mice.html Fri, 12 Jun 2026 13:40:03 EDT news700483981